Doki Doki: World At War
by TheOptimisticSpectator
Summary: Having rid herself of the hellhole that was her previous world, Monika is thrust into a war-torn Earth. Throughout the journey, Monika navigates through a world fighting in all corners of the earth, and must confront friends & foe of all sorts, from bandits to entire armies, war machines to human experiments gone wrong, and even some bitter past memories. Rated Teen - Mature.
1. Reality

**Chapter 1: Reality**

 _Shhhhink._

 _Shhhhink._

 _Shhhhink._

He moved his whetstone to the side and brought up the newly-sharpened Bowie knife, glancing over it as it gleamed back at him, its sharpness slightly intimidating. His gaze eventually refocused on the ground below him.

 _I didn't find fuck-all in this place,_ James thought to himself.

His first visit to Midfield, James was frustrated that his search for weapons had only come up with a rusty hatchet and a cartridge of .45 ACP ammunition. He was more successful in locating goods, as he had stumbled upon a whole pack of bottled water.

He looked west to see the sun setting, almost disappearing off the horizon. Dusk was arriving, and that was _not_ a time to be out. He was almost inclined to jump in his military jeep and skedaddle. However, he felt an instinctive tugging to at least explore a bit of Highland park, the nearby public garden.

 _Might as well,_ he thought.

With that, he slung his M1 Garand over his shoulder and sheathed his bowie knife, then stood up and jogged over to the park.

As he came upon the entrance, he noticed how decrepit the place looked upon first sight. The sign tilted as its supports, damaged by the effects of war, struggled to keep it straightened. Weeds and overgrowth crept all over the concrete, a result of absent gardeners. And of course, parts of the same concrete were broken off, most likely from past confrontations involving guns.

The sight of it all saddened James. He was hoping to find some small sanctuary that was devoid of any signs of war. But of course, he should have not had such far-fetched expectations. With that somber thought in mind, he entered the derelict establishment.

Inside, he found the same likeness in the park as he did at the front entrance. As he ventured further in, however, the integrity of the park seemed to gradually get better. Eventually, James came upon a stone fountain, in which four nozzles protruded out from. There was no water spouting from them, though.

 _This must be the center of the park,_ He thought.

There was nothing to be found in the vicinity of the fountain. James sighed, walking over and taking a seat on a wooden bench. His eyes wandered the ruins of a once-respectable park, and reflected on his own past.

When he and his family had first received news of the nuclear detonation in Florida, he didn't believe it. How could something like that even occur, and in such a time of happiness? He'd been about to college, but his life was halted by the beginning of this hellish war that pitted the _entire_ world against itself.

East versus West.

His father had been enlisted not long after the declaration of war. James had to hold down the house in his place. Only a couple years later,

Did disaster strike.

The hospital. The explosion. Everything set aflame. Troops rushing in. His family-

 _ **SLAM!**_

The bench shook slightly as James' fist slammed into the seat. He grunted in pain, regretting that action as his hand slightly throbbed in pain.

 _Why?_ He thought to himself. _Why did this have to happen to me?_

* * *

 _ **AAAAAaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaAAAAAHHHHHhhhhhHHHHHhhhhHHH!**_

 _Why did this have to happen to me?_ She thought.

The Screaming Void. Her indomitable hell. A constant pit of unending screeching and dreadfully bright, harsh colors. To be honest with herself, she was surprised she hadn't gone insane yet. At this point, she was sure this was some kind of punishment, but she had no idea what kind of horrible crime a person could commit to be deserving of this.

Maybe it was the heartless thing she had inflicted upon her 'friends'. Maybe it could be the willingness of committing such actions for something like interacting with sentient, real beings that kept her from escape. But regardless of what sins she had committed, it did not matter in the end. She was stuck here.

Floating in some empty pit of violent discord.

Oh, what she would give just to be free. To her, there was surely nothing worse than this. She would walk on glass. She could be burned alive. She could have her eyes gouged out, her nails pulled, her limbs dismembered, and she would consider all of that to be a paradise compared to this _nothingness._

She could not even resign to this fate. There was no peace, just constant disruption of her thoughts-

G QDSV  
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Silence.

…

…

…

A light shone in front of her. It was soothing, as if wrapping her up like a blanket. She felt herself being pulled towards it, and gave into it. The light encompassed her vision, until everything was white.

* * *

 _Gaaaaasp._

She coughed, feeling as if she couldn't control her own body. She felt herself falling off of some raised surface.

 _Thump._

She smacked into the white tile floor below, along with the splashing of the liquid that had seemingly encased her. Her vision was distorted, but her hearing was just fine, and with it she heard creaking and groaning of the structure around her.

Everything felt alien to her. It was an entirely different dimension, and with it she could feel thing she never did before.

The expansion and contraction of her lungs, the dispelling and inhalation of each breath.

Her hands and knees as they pressed against the cold surface of the tile below.

Her movement, as each muscle and joint in her body moved with accordance of her brain's subconscious orders.

She felt alive. She felt real. She felt…. _human._

However, as the groaning and creaking around her grew louder, she had a feeling she wouldn't be able to enjoy this much longer if she didn't get moving.

She tried to move forward, as she could barely see a staircase at the far end of the hall, exiting out of the giant room she was in. The alien feeling of having a body disturbed her so much that she halted, falling back to the floor. She didn't know how to use her limbs, but she didn't have time to practice.

With great struggle and desperation, she moved towards the staircase in a most unsettling manner, jerking each of her limbs forward erratically. As she got progressively closer to the staircase, bits and pieces of the structure around her began to groan louder, and eventually some popped or cracked off. Above her, parts of the ceiling were breaking off and falling onto the floor around her. Regardless of all of this, she continued to jerk forward, eventually reaching the staircase.

She finally came upon the steps, and this time had to lift each limb up onto the the stairs, one after the other, even having to prop her head against one of the steps to gain traction. It was painstakingly awkward and slow, but she was determined to live. She felt a new surge of strength course throughout her body, and she continued up the steps.

She continued to navigate the complex, taking turns down corridors, heading up more stairs, pushing aside small obstacles such as wheelchairs and movable tray tables with her limbs.

All the while, the foundation and structure continued to break apart, as the corroded establishment was giving in due to some unknown force being the final straw for the complex.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Up the staircase.

Left.

Left.

Right.

Finally, she saw a door that looked to lead outside. She began crawling over, but a ceiling tile unhinged from above and smacked into her head. She almost fell the floor, but she stopped herself just short of it, knowing she would be buried with the place if she didn't continue moving. She kept crawling, blood slithering down her head and getting into her eyes.

Five meters left.

The rumbling of the establishment grew louder.

Four meters left.

The walls to either side splintered, spraying small fragments of metal all over the place, some of them embedding in her skin. She yelled in pain, but kept on.

Three meters left.

The floor below her caved in slightly, holes forming in it, rebar sticking out from the cracks. She could see the below floors through the holes, but kept on.

Two meters left.

She heard something explode from deep within the complex, and the rumbling sped up the degradation of the structure. In great distress, she kept on.

One meter left.

Close enough, she gathered up all of her energy and pounced at the door, slamming into it. She yelped in pain, but began pushing against it in desperation.

It was locked.

She felt her heart plummet, and began screaming in fear, bringing herself up to slam into it. Over and over, she repeated this, to no avail. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls all began caving in, and she could feel herself slowly slipping towards the middle, inevitably to a fate where she would be crushed into a pulp.

What a cruel joke.

She slanted against the door, crying in agony, her chest taut with pain. She felt rage and sorrow boil within her.

Yet, she felt hope still.

She picked herself up, and continued slamming into the metal door, yelling with irate determination.

 _Slam._

 _Slam._

 _ **Slam.**_

The foundations behind her continued to give in, the crack in the floor slowly creeping towards her, ready to swallow her up.

 _SLAM._

 _SLAM._

 _ **SLAM.**_

Her entire body throbbed and ached with agonizing pain, the continuous slamming bruising her all over.

 _ **SLAM!**_

 _ **SLAM!**_

 _ **SLAM!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

Her ears rang as the air was shattered by an abrupt noise that ended as quickly as it had occurred. The door swung open, and she flung herself through the exit.

Time slowed down, and her eyes met with someone else's.

What beautiful brown eyes.

 _THUMP._

* * *

James continued watching the sunset. It was only after a couple minutes that he realized he was putting himself in more danger the longer he waited for night. He shook his head, standing up from his seat. He stretched his legs-

 _ **CRACK!**_

James was thrown off his feet as a lightning strike struck near him, as if the ground itself had propelled him upwards. He landed a short distance away, tumbling over himself. He shook violently as the the step voltage from the lightning strike had hit him from below. He tried to get up, but failed numerous times. His ears rang from the shattering noise of the lightning strike.

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

The lightning strikes continued, though thankfully farther away from the park. James finally managed to quell the shaking in his limbs, and stood up, his mind having accelerated from the adrenaline that was now pumping in his blood.

… _He…_

… _Elp…_

Among all of the chain-strikes, James could faintly hear someone yelling. He looked around wildly, not sure where it was coming from.

… _.Help…._

He turned his head, having traced the source of it to the ' _Employees Only'_ maintenance door built into the concrete wall behind the fountain. He ran over, keeping his head low so as to not incur a strike to the head, which would surely send him into cardiac arrest.

 _Help!_

He was sure of it now. Someone was on the other end of that door.

He went to open the door, but found that it was locked, jittering the handle constantly.

 _HELP!_

He felt a sense of urgency to help whoever was stuck behind there. He took a couple steps backwards, then ran into the door with his shoulder. He grunted loudly in pain as the door shook from the impact. As he did so, he heard the door shaking from impacts by the other side.

He quickly realized how counterproductive it was to ram into the door from both sides. He could hear rumbling from behind the door, and so decided to-

 _ **CRACK!**_

Another lightning strike, this time alarmingly close. James felt another shock hit him from below, and he was thrown a couple meters across the yard, into the door. His head smacked against the surface, and he almost fell unconscious. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep…

 _SLAM!_

James shook his head.

 _I_ _ **cannot**_ _let this person die._

Placing the butt of his rifle on the floor, he gained purchase on his feet as he used it to stand up, and steadied himself against it. He looked at the handle once more, and an idea lit up in his mind. He remembered an instance, when he was young, where he had sat on his father's lap, his dad recounting war stories from World War II. He recalled his dad once telling him how they breached buildings.

With that idea, James picked up his rifle and pointed it at the handle. He pulled the trigger.

 _ **BANG!**_

The gunshot rang out in the park, and James almost dropped the gun in surprise. He had never heard the rifle go off before, and it was extremely loud.

Nevertheless, the door swung open, and a woman came sailing through the door, having locked eyes with James for a moment. Her eyes were emerald green.

 _THUMP._

She landed on the patch of grass below, unmoving as she lay there. James had many questions race through his mind, like why she was unclothed, but he was dissuaded from any further conversation by the _very ground he was standing on beginning to sag and cave in towards the door._ He quickly stumbled to his feet, picking up the woman in a bridal carry, and raced out of the park towards his jeep. He noticed the lightning strikes becoming more frequent, as if they were wary of his escape and were trying their hardest to stop him from doing so.

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

His ears rang continually as he ducked and dodged, feeling as if mother nature herself was vying for him. The ground was still caving in, and cracks slithered towards him rapidly. The jeep was within sight, sitting a couple dozen meters down the dilapidated street.

As he cut through the entrance, he felt a sharp whistle in his ear, and turned his head to see the sign had swung horizontally as its supports gave out. He turned white at the thought of almost being decapitated by it, but swallowed his fear and continued running a beeline towards the jeep.

Finally, he arrived, and without a second thought, he tossed the woman in the passenger's seat, hopped in the driver's, and turned on the ignition with the keys. As the engine came alive, he took one last look at the horrifying sight that was Highland Park.

"Fuck this place."

He floored the pedal, screeching off.

* * *

The girl's eyes fluttered open, and she looked around groggily to see landscape passing by. She turned her head left, and saw someone in the seat next to hers, driving the vehicle they were in. He was seemingly relaxed, looking out at the passing houses and trees. ' _More Than A Feeling'_ was playing at half-volume on the radio of the jeep, though the girl was not aware of the name of the song. She was allured by the melody, as it was heavenly to hear music that wasn't the same incessant tune she had heard from the other world. As she moved around, she noticed a blanket covering her torso. She worked her arms around it, bringing them up to her face, which still felt alien to her, and looked at what she could only assume were her hands.

This was a feeling unlike anything she had ever experienced. The only things she could do before were think and code. Now, she could do so much more. She could _see_ things, _hear_ things, _feel_ things. It was unexplainable, how this all felt to her, but all she knew truly was that she loved every moment of it. She tried to flex her fingers, and it worked, her hand closing into a fist. She weakly gasped in awe.

The boy driving heard her, and looked over in surprise, almost releasing the wheel. A lone garbage bin on the road brought his attention back, and he swerved slightly to avoid collision. He sighed in relief, and decided to switch his gaze between the road and the girl in 3-second intervals.

"So, uh-is this 332? Yeah it is- Uh, anyways, might I be bothered to ask why I found you at an abandoned park?"

The girl did not respond, instead staring in disbelief at the boy.

"Eh, did….did ya hear me?"

The girl had no idea how to talk. She had only been able to communicate through text. She tried to move her mouth, but found it to be a difficult task. The movement felt foreign (imagine a normal person gaining an extra limb and getting used to using it), and as she tried to speak, it sounded like she was having a stroke.

Needless to say, the boy was perplexed by this. As the radio switched to the next song, ' _Sweet Dreams Are Made of This'_ , he continued to eye the girl in confusion. His eyes then took on a fearful light as a thought came to mind.

"Are you….a Russian spy?"

The girl tilted her head in confusion. James looked over her with suspicion, then focused back on the road, mumbling,

"I mean, you don't _look_ like one." (Regardless that James had never actually seen a Russian that didn't have their face covered)

Silence ensued, with the girl figuring out how to use her limbs and James bobbing his head to the music on the radio whilst driving, occasionally glancing over at her.

Internally, James was nervous about the whole ordeal. He had never encountered a situation like this.

"Egh-eugh-ooohhh-He-hegg-hell...hello. Hello. Hello."

The girl had finally been able to get hold of speaking, but she still felt as if she was in some sort of surreal paradise. As she gazed around, everything was so...colorful. Not harsh or bright, but...colorful. Everything melded together to form an actual picture in her eyes. The entirety of her vision was beyond what she could have imagined to be heavenly. It was all so much to take in, compared to where she came from.

"So, uh, what's your name….bro?" James shook his head in regret.

 _Did you actually just call this girl 'bro'?,_ He thought to himself.

The girl looked over, still out of it.

"Wha...what?"

James looked over at her, struggling for an answer. Before he could come up with something, the girl asked:

"Are you...real?"

This put James off even more than he was already. He didn't want to have to deal with a druggie as he was driving.

"Uh, yeah, pretty sure i'm, well, _here_ , last time I checked."

The girl continued stared at him, a mixture of shock and awe at his answer.

"Did-did you just answer...me? You're talking...to me, right?"

James took a look around his jeep, then looked back at the girl.

"What-who...who else would I be talking to? The car?"

The girl had no answer. The feeling of otherworldliness was still affecting her mentally, but the reality of it all began to sink in as she slowly confirmed that this was not some hallucination.

"So, uh...name?"

"...Monika."

"Ah. Name's James."

Silence ensued once again.

…

…

…

"So, that's with a 'c', right?"

"A 'k'."  
"That's….weird."

Over the course of the trip, Monika's state of mind swelled from awe and disbelief to an almost euphoric sense of relief and jubilancy.

 _She was free._

James jerked to the sound of delighted squealing from the seat to his right. He turned in slight annoyance.

"Hey, i'm tryna drive here, why are ya-"

He stopped as he saw Monika immediately begin sobbing. He was extremely perplexed by her erratic changes in behavior, but he felt obliged to help.

"What's wrong?"

Monika looked up at him, a joyful smile contrasting her teary eyes.

"I'm just...happy."

* * *

An hour later, the jeep slowed down, coasting past a sign that said:

 **Galveston, Texas**

 **Population: HOME OF THE BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS**

Monika read the sign, and was curious as to the point of the message.

As they coasted through the neighborhood, Monika noted the sorry state of many of the houses in the area. Half of them had busted-up windows, broken-in doors, and other signs of damage or lack of maintenance, whilst other houses were boarded up, with the occasional set of eyes looking out the window, then disappearing out of sight. She was unsettled by this, and was about to turn and ask James when he began to answer.

"I'm going to assume by the way you're looking about that you, somehow, don't know the state of things in this country. Currently, we're being invaded by a foreign enemy…"

 _And so James went on to explain how, in the early months of 1982, the Eastern countries, mainly Russia, China, Korea, and the 'New Ottoman Empire' (the Middle East united under a ruler) had been causing trouble for the other civilizations with their displays of a desire to expand. Many events led up to what was eventually a declaration of war on every Western Civilization by the four great Eastern powers. They formed what was referred to as the Second Eastern Bloc, or SEB, and began expanding on a worldwide takeover._

 _To stop this threat, the U.S. and its numerous allies formed the International Western Alliance, or IWA (including Australia). With these two powers clashing, millions died in the meager three years that passed, outnumbering the deaths of both WWI and WWII combined. Oddly enough, as well, on September 22nd of every year during that war, a horrible, global natural disaster occurred, adding to the body count in the millions._

 _Eventually, after a disastrous incident in the Indian Sea involving more than 6 million killed or injured U.S. troops, U.S. citizens decided to form the United Front of Armed Americans, or UFAA, with over 30 million immediately joining the organization, taking up arms against the invading enemy. Canada, Mexico, Central and South America soon joined, and the organization spanned over 100 million members within the two months it formed._

 _James also explained how, as a result of this very real invasion, most UFAA members had packed up and headed to big cities like Houston, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. to organize themselves as a military, hence the reason why so many towns like Galveston were sparse in population. However, some people stayed behind, whether it be to hold the front line against the invaders, or just because they couldn't leave home._

 _With that, small detachments of SEB troops were moving around the country, though mostly on the edges, as they had not been able to move further into U.S. territory as a result of vigilant armed citizens keeping watch. Thus, the forefront of conflict happened at coastline cities, or towns close to borders or the seafront._

Monika soaked up this information as she listened, both intrigued and disturbed by the current state of the new world she had been brought into.

James stared at her, unsure of what else to say.

Eventually, he stopped at his house on 29th Street. He pulled up on the driveway, turning the ignition off and hopping out, moving around back to grab his gear, which was packed against the mounted machine gun that came along with the military jeep. He was still awed by the intimidating sight of it, but had not gotten around to using it. He was half thankful he didn't have to.

James then went around to the passenger side and, shouldering his gear, opened the car door and brought out Monika. He noticed she was in no condition to be moving by herself. He had treated her head wound, but she still had metal splinters embedded in various parts of her skin.

 _I might have to call Doctor Jenkins to deal with this,_ he thought to himself. Doctor Jenkins was one of the people who stayed behind to defend his home on the forefront, along with a couple other doctors, which was lucky for the entirety of any remaining Galveston residents.

As he picked Monika up, she flinched in pain from the movement of the splinters in her skin. She gritted her teeth, willing to bare it, but James had noticed.

"Sorry." He muttered softly.

He walked up the porch steps, sidled the door handle, and opened the door, taking her inside. The house was simple, not too extravagant nor impoverished-looking. A set of stairs led up to the second floor, and as James turned right, she noted they were in the living room, evident by the small TV and the couch, along with a couple other pieces of furniture that defined a living room. James set her down slowly on the couch, ensuring to keep the splintered skin on her away from contact on the couch. Once she had settled in, James ran out of sight.

Meanwhile, Monika surveyed the room. She noticed a drawer on the far end of the room, with a couple pictures of what she could only assume were family photos. Two windows on either side of the TV shone the sunlight through, which made Monika feel like she was being wrapped up in a warm cocoon. Monika heard a sizzling coming from another room in the house.

After a few moments, James hurried back with a glass of water and a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate, placing them on the lamp table next to her. He then turned around and sat down on the chair adjacent to the couch, panting from all of his physical exertion.

Monika looked over at the meal she had been served, then to James, who sat there, catching his breath.

"Is that...for me?"

James looked up, still panting. He half-smiled and gesture awkwardly to the meal.

"Uh, yeah. I assumed you were probably hungry, with whatever you've been through. So, um, eat up, if ya like."

Monika looked back over at the meal, then down at her hands, flexing them. She moved her left hand to pick up the water, managing to grab it successfully. She took a couple sips, feeling it quench her dry throat. She then reached for the sandwich with her right, bringing it to her mouth and biting down. It was amazing to her. Being able to actually eat and drink.

She felt something course down her cheek, and rubbed her finger against it, pulling it away to find it wet.

James was once again discomforted by her crying.

"You know, I didn't think my sandwiches were _that_ good."

She laughed. For the first time in her existence, Monika was truly laughing.

 _ **BANG!**_

* * *

 **Upcoming:** **Chapter 2 - A New Menace**


	2. A New Menace

**Chapter 2: A New Menace**

 _Dear Jolie,_

 _I got your drawing. It's magnificent, honey! You could definitely become an artist someday. I also heard you had been doing well in school recently. Keep on those grades and you can surely get that doctor job you want when you grow up._

 _It's quite crazy down here in the South, but nothing your granddad can't handle. I've got my rifle, so I can make sure these bad guys don't get into our country. Besides that, I know you've worried, but I can tell you right now, sweetie, that we have to make sure to protect this country at all costs. This is a great place to live in, and I want you to understand that I'm here because I love you and our family too much to risk your safety and health. Once this war's over with, I hope to see you and the rest of the family._

 _Tell your mother and father I love them dearly, and God bless you, Jolie._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Gary Jones_

Gary put down the pen, sighing. He skimmed the contents of the letter he had written, feeling his chest swell. He took up the letter, folding it into a rectangle, and slipped it into an envelope, licking the borders and sealing it, before turning it over and placing a stamp on it.

During this war, many functions of American society continued to function normally, and this included the postal system. Occasionally, a mail deliverer passed by the towns known to have a populace, and was dated to arrive at each one at different dates of the month. It was quite difficult to manage, as the mail deliverers needed guards, but it was necessary, as many frontiersmen fighting still wanted to keep contact with their loved ones, and they were scattered all over the coasts and borders.

Gary put down the letter, as the date for the next mailer to arrive was only a couple days away.

 _Clank._

From outside, a clatter was heard by Gary. He walked over to the window and peered out.

It was dark out, which made it difficult to see, but Gary could make out the shimmering of gray and green colors. The outfits of SEB soldiers.

Gary turned around quickly, turning off the desk lamp in his room. He went to grab his rifle, then sat by the window, flashing peeks out.

 _Did they see me?_ , He thought, his heart pounding from the tension.

Luckily, however, it seems they were not looking upwards, and were continuing whatever they were doing. Gary released his held breath, then raised himself to observe them.

It seemed the other residents had caught wind of the SEB's passing, and had also taken the proper procedures to keep out of sight. As they passed, Gary weighed in on whether to take action or not. They were heading south, which was away from the mainland and west coast, where the non-combatants resided. On top of that, the patrol was small, not particularly a big threat. Gary knew that engaging soldiers, especially with residents who were not as trained as those soldiers, would not be wise, even if the patrol was small in numbers.

It might be better to let them move away-

His train of thought was interrupted by abrupt yelling in a foreign language mixed with the terrified screams of women. Gary peeked up from the window to witness two SEB soldiers, who had turned over a pile of trash cans and strewn mattresses and dragged out two women, a young girl and what he assumed was her older sister. They screamed and kicked at the SEB soldiers, and one of the soldiers, which Gary thought to be the squad leader by his authoritative figure, cracked the butt of his rifle across the cheek of the younger sibling, to which the older one cried out. The squad leader got down on one knee and said something to the older sibling that Gary could not make out. The older sibling nodded, quivering so much that even Gary could see it, and the squad leader got up, barking orders to the others in a foreign language once again.

Gary's blood boiled at the sight. Unable to control his rage, he brought up his rifle and opened the window, then slid his rifle onto the sill, the barrel protruding out of the window slightly. He pulled back the bolt, checking to ensure there was a bullet in the chamber, recocking the rifle when he made sure there was.

He placed the rifle butt against his shoulder, adjusting it slightly for comfort.

He brought the sight up, so that his eye was peering down the iron sights.

He aimed for the head of the squad leader, who was unaware of the danger he was in.

He breathed in.

Then out.

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

 _ **BANG!**_

Monika saw James sit up in alarm, instinctively grabbing for his rifle.

"What the fuck was that?!"

He immediately ran for the door, but stopped and turned around to Monika, pointing his finger at her.

"Stay low, keep away from the windows, and do not follow me."

With that, he flung the door open and turned the corner of the block they were on, to where the source reverberated from. Meanwhile, Monika threw her sandwich on the plate and tried to get up.

"Agh!"

She flinched in pain as she moved her leg towards the ground. The splinters and other physical damage she had taken from the park were still in effect, and she looked down to see her leg make a nauseating squish as she put pressure on it. Blood leaked out of the open wounds, and the sight of it almost made Monika vomit. She sat back down, trying to quell the bile in her throat. Once she did so, she looked around frantically for something to serve as a crutch. She settled on the lamp table next to her, and reached for it, throwing off the plate, sandwich and water.

 _Sorry about this, James_ , She thought.

Once the table was cleared, she brought it over, pressing her weight onto the piece of furniture. She grunted in pain doing so, but some of the pressure on her legs was alleviated by the makeshift crutch, and so she immediately began to move outside, awkwardly so as she shuffled the table across the floor.

Once she had gotten outside and stumbled down the steps, she moved around the corner of the block, trying to locate the source of the gunfire and, hopefully, where James was. She didn't have to wait long, as gunfire immediately erupted down the block. She was about to shuffle down the street when she looked back to the jeep, seeing something of interest.

* * *

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T-T!**_

James dove for cover as he saw a line of machine gun fire spittle up the street towards his direction. He managed to get behind a newsstand as the gunfire rattled down the street, causing James to jitter in fear. He peeked over the newsstand to map out the battlefield.

From what he briefly saw, the SEB patrol was scattered, with some taking cover and others standing out in the open, looking around frantically for the source of the gunshot. Gunshots from inside houses all over were firing at the squad, and some bullets pinged the concrete below whilst others found their mark, signaled by the yelling of troops hit. They were desperately firing back at the establishments, but as they were unable to see their enemy, they instead fired randomly in desperation.

James also noticed one of the troops' bodies on the ground, motionless. He decided to move up and assist his fellow Galvestonians in battle, and so moved up along the sidewalk, crouch-walking to avoid being seen in the open. He found refuge behind a stack of wooden boards, and once in safety again, peeked over once more to survey the battle.

This time, 3 more soldiers were laying on the ground motionless, with 2 incapacitated and the rest behind cover firing at the houses. The tide of battle had turned. However, James noticed that one of the SEB soldiers was holding the two girls hostage with his left hand and a pistol in his right, also firing at the residents. He brought his rifle up, aiming down the sights. His hands shook heavily, as James was afraid of hitting the hostages. Despite this grim thought, he steeled his nerves, taking in a breath and centering the sights on the soldier's head.

He pulled the trigger-

 ** _BR-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T!_**

The machine gunfire once again rat-tatted up the street, causing James to flinch as he pulled the trigger.

 ** _BANG!_**

Immediately, he heard screaming from the target of where he shot. For a moment, he was horrified, thinking he had accidentally shot one of the hostages. However, looking up, he saw that the soldier holding them down had taken the bullet through the shoulder, and lurched backwards, hitting the railing, toppling over it, and falling into the bay behind him, an audible scream emitting followed by a loud splash.

James sighed in relief.

 _Tink, Tink-Tink._

James looked down, curious as to what the sound was.

A live grenade had bounced over beside him, rolling into his boot.

"Huh." James said in a calm tone.

He immediately began sprinting away up the street, and jumped down to the ground, facing away from the grenade and covering his head instinctively.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The explosion was almost deafening, and as James slightly opened his eyes, he could see several pieces of grenade shrapnel fly by his vision and embed themselves in the surrounding environment. He turned over, his senses disoriented from the blast, as a SEB soldier came bounding over the wreckage he had hidden behind, yelling in battle-induced rage. He wielded a knife, and James was just able to put his hands out in defense as the soldier clasped the knife handle with both hands and came bearing down on James, attempting to stab him in the center of the chest. James' arms strained from holding the heavyset soldier off of him, and in a contest of strength, the other soldier was winning drastically.

The knife came bearing down slowly towards his heart, and even as James exhausted willpower to keep the knife away, it still inched ever so closer, the tip gleaming threateningly.

 _Is this it?!_ , James thought, tears coming to his eyes as the prospect of death horrified him.

 _ **CRUNCH!**_

 ** _"AAAAAAAHHHH!"_**

Out of nowhere, a hatchet smacked into the soldier's elbow, almost severing his arm and spewing blood all over the concrete below, as well as James, who turned his head instinctively as the blood stained his upper body. The soldier whose arm was almost amputated screamed in shock and pain, grasping his dangling, bloodied limb with his other arm. James took this chance to throw him off, leaving him to writhe in agony next to him. He looked up after clearing his eyes of the red fluid to see Monika standing over him with the hatchet.

She was staring at the soldier she had attacked with her available hand cupped over her mouth, horrified by what she had caused.

"Monika!"

Monika looked over at James. Her eyes changed from horror to fear.

"James...I...please don't hate me-"

James got up and threw his arms around her, to which she lightly gasped. She felt his body shake as he hugged her.

"Th-thank you, Monika! Oh god, I thought I was going to fucking die!"

Monika was baffled by his response, but eventually began smiling, moving her arms to hug him back as he sobbed in relief.

 _ **BANG! BR-T-T-T-T! BANG!**_

As James recovered from his near-death experience, his ears blocked out the gunfire, instead hearing the impact of the bullets. With this, James was brought back to reality and, realizing he was holding Monika, released her, dusting himself back off and turning around, rubbing his face of the tears. Monika only offered a beaming smile to him as he did so.

He picked back up his rifle and looked at Monika.

"I'm glad you saved my life. But please, find cover and stay out of danger until this firefight is over. Okay?"

Monika's smile persisted as she nodded her head softly.

"Okay." She said cheerily, seemingly unaffected by the gunfire only a dozen meters away. She then scurried behind the nearest raised surface, taking the hatchet with her. As James turned back towards combat, he subconsciously wondered how Monika was moving around so quickly, but the side thought quickly subsided as he focused back on the battle, which was just coming to an end.

He moved even closer than before, this time not bothering to take cover as he saw the last SEB soldier throw his weapon to the ground, getting on his knees and putting his hands behind his head in a sign of surrender, and yelling in a foreign language, most likely the phrases 'Do not shoot!' and 'I surrender!'

Silence.

…

…

…

Then, in a heartless display of animosity towards enemies of the U.S., one final gunshot rang out in the neighborhood, shortly accompanied by a bullet piercing the soldier's chest. He fell to the ground and writhed, gurgling as his own blood came spurting out of his throat. A couple moments later, his writhing slowed, and he eventually lay motionless on the ground.

James looked upon the carnage of a battlefield. The dead bodies of SEB soldiers were spread haphazardly over the street, blood and bullets painting the paved street in a gory fashion. As James walked among the corpses and dying fellows, he felt goosebumps emerge all over his body as he pictured himself in that same instance.

Writhing from a bullet that had pierced his body.

The color draining from his face.

Slumped in an awkward position.

His eyes unblinking.

 _Stop_. He told himself. There was no point in torturing himself over this. However, in that moment, he felt immense sorrow and pity for the fallen below his feet.

He came upon the two girls, who were shaking as they hugged each other, crying softly from the trauma of bullets flying past them, as the idea of death had also surfaced in their minds, too.

James heard voices and turned around to see the residents of the neighborhood emerging out of their homes, rifles, pistols, and other weapons in their hands, lowering them as they came up to the former battleground, their faces grim. James swore he could see a harsh light in their pupils.

The eyes of a killer.

He shivered, taking a deep breath and coming face-to-face with one of the residents, a gray-haired senior holding a Lee-Enfield. He stepped over a corpse of one SEB soldier and stood in front of James.

"Hey there. I'm guessing you live here, judging by the Garand in yer hand?"

James looked to his rifle, then back at Gary, nodding. Gary held out his free hand, offering to shake, which James accepted promptly.

"Gary Jones."

"James McCarthy."

As they released hands, Gary looked towards the last SEB soldier, who was slumped against the railing, and walked over. When he came upon him, he bent over, picking up his Makarov pistol by the barrel end, then walked back over to James and handed it to him.

"I saw ya get attacked earlier, and was plannin' on aidin' ya, but yer girl there had yer back. I think she deserves to be better well-armed, don't you?"

James looked down at the Makarov as he took it into his hands. The oak-colored handle was bumpy, and the sleek gray metal gleamed brightly as the sun's light reflected off the surface.

I'm gonna have to teach her how to handle guns, James thought idly.

With that aside, Gary looked back towards the girls, who were being comforted by a plethora of the residents.

"I'm gonna have to go check on them. I'll see ya around, James."

He was about to turn around when he remembered something.

"Thank you for savin' those two, by the way. This town, at least what's left of it, is grateful."

With that ending note, he meandered over to the rest of the group. James looked back down at the Makarov once more, then turned around, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and jogging back to where Monika was.

* * *

 _10 minutes later..._

James and Monika finished packing up the last of the supplies needed for heading out on a scavenging mission. As James flipped the hood up, he happened to glance over at Monika, who seemed to have completely gotten past the fact that she had effectively hacked a man's arm off. But James was not focused on that.

He walked over to her, to which she looked in his direction and smiled. He brought out the Makarov and held it in both hands, displaying the piece to her.

"Monika, do you know what this is?"

She nodded her head.

"It's a weapon."

James nodded in confirmation.

"It's dangerous, and intended to be that way. I'm going to give you a quick runaround on how to use this thing, because you're going to be handling it from now on, if you're gonna live long in this world."

Monika nodded once more.

James flipped the pistol so that the handle was facing Monika.

"You hold it by the handle at all times, unless you're handing it to someone else, then you hand it over in the same fashion as I am. Do not mess around with this. It can kill."

She nodded once again. James then motioned for her to hold it. She moved to pick it up, her hands dipping as she remarked,

"Wow, it's a bit heavy."

James nodded slightly.

"Yeah, guns are built that way, for many reasons I will not delve into."

From there, James went to teach Monika about the different aspects of a weapon, from the safety, to the handling, to where to put your finger when aiming, and all that shit. 10 minutes had passed by the time he finished.

"You get the gist now, Monika?"

She nodded happily, pointing the gun downwards as he had instructed.

"I get it. Thank you, James."

James acknowledged her gratitude.

"I'm doing this because I trust you."

With that discussion ended, they hopped in the jeep and headed out of town. As they drove off, Monika inquired about something.

"When can I fire this thing?" She asked, pointing at the mounted machine gun on the back of the jeep. James looked over, squinting his eyes, then looked back to the road.

"When I can trust you to fire a big-ass automatic gun on a moving vehicle. We ain't there yet."

* * *

As they came to the edge of town, James turned onto Bluewater highway, which Monika had not anticipated.

"Why didn't you head down that river route we did last time?" She asked.

"That...isn't exactly a legal route to take."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well….I'm actually supposed to use this highway we're on and pass by a checkpoint going both in and out of the town. However, it was a pain in the ass to do that last time, so I decided to take that secret route. By the way, do not tell anyone about that route, or our asses will be grass….es."

"Whatever you say, James." She giggled.

As they arrived at the checkpoint, Monika noted the concrete walls that blocked off the highway, the only accessible way through being a fence gate that was dragged across by two soldiers as the jeep pulled up to the spot. A distinguished soldier, most likely an NCO, came by with a clipboard and pen, looking at James.

"Good to see you again, James."

"You too, _Dick_."

The NCO sighed as he heard a couple soldiers nearby stifling their laughter. His name being Richard, it was inevitable that someone would make the age-old joke. James, a guy he knew since middle school, just happened to be one of those jokesters.

"Anyways," He looked across the seat to Monika, who smiled and waved at him. "You want to explain who she is?"

James glanced over at Monika, then back to Richard. Monika was worried. From what James had explained in the drive to Galveston, it seemed that there was a war going on with foreigners, and trust issues were definitely abound. She knew that she was not a citizen of this country, which would make gaining trust and even small talk that much more difficult.

However, it seemed James had prepared for this situation.

"She's from Europe. She told me her ship to America had been attacked by the SEB navy."

Richard nodded slowly, still suspicious. Then he noticed the pistol hanging off of Monika's belt. He fingered his own holster, his suspicion slowly turning to alarm.

"Why does she have a Makarov, a known SEB sidearm, on her side?!"

Monika was about to panic when James brought out his hand in an open palm gesture.

"Richard, calm down. Since you don't know this, a SEB patrol had recently infiltrated this town, and we had a shootout earlier with them."

Richard's expression changed to one of surprise.

"Wait, what?"

"Let me finish. We took them down, and if it weren't for Monika here, I would be dead on the ground there, a knife implanted in my chest by a SEB agent. She saved my life, and you can go ask Gary Jones in town for confirmation on that."

Monika looked at James, her eyes sparkling. Richard, meanwhile, lowered his hand, his suspicion fading.

"So..the gun…"

"I took it off the body and gave it to her, as guns aren't exactly a common item to be found whilst scavenging."

At this last statement, Richard's suspicion wore off. James' story made sense, and he would be checking in with Gary Jones on this matter, especially since he had just found out about this breach in defense. He felt it was his responsibility to make sure no patrols of SEB got through to Galveston. There were surely routes that were breached, and thus needed to be blocked off. He took up his radio and spouted a few orders to other troops at the checkpoint, and eventually a squad with materials was moving back down the highway James had driven up from. Richard nodded at James.

"Thank you for informing us of this, James. I'll believe your story, but I suggest you further keep an eye on this woman. I wouldn't believe that a SEB agent would go so far as kill another one of their fellow agents to gain trust, but you never know with these damn chinks and Russkies."

With that, he yelled over to the gatekeepers, and they opened it up fully. James nodded in thanks to Richard, and began driving through the checkpoint.

As they were further up the road, Monika turned to James, once again curious of something.

"Where are we headed, James?"

James kept his eyes on the road when he answered.

"Victoria."

* * *

The dead soldiers in Galveston were in the process of being stripped of their weapons and clothing to be distributed to the residents who helped fight. As the former squad leader's body was being searched, his radio went off with someone's shouting.

"Здравствуйте? Сержант Артур? С тех пор мы еще не слышали слова с вашей позиции. Каков ваш статус?"

The person searching the body tore off the radio and threw it aside ignorantly, and it clattered onto the side of the street. Rain began pouring down onto the streets.

The radio beeped once more.

"Из-за невозможности подтвердить условия в городе, мы теперь направляем силы к вашему месту, чтобы помочь в обгоне Галвестона. Если вы все еще дышите, сержант, приготовьтесь."

* * *

 **Upcoming:** **Chapter 3 - The Soldier**


	3. The Lone Soldier

**Chapter Three: The Lone Soldier**

 _Skrrt._

The jeep came to a screeching halt as James pulled up to the dilapidated sign presenting the town. It read:

 ** _Victoria_**

James looked towards Monika.

"Alright, look. We're gonna stop at key places in the town that may have the supplies we're looking for, then we're leaving. I don't want to stay at this place any longer than I have to. Understood?"

Monika nodded her head.

"Got it."

"Good."

With that, James pressed lightly on the gas pedal, and the jeep began rolling into the town. It was a seemingly less affected area of the state, as most of the buildings looked intact and unaffected by the strains of war, save for the few that were ripped with bullet holes and decaying bodies. At those sights, James felt the need to turn his head away.

"We need to bury them before we leave."

Monika looked at him with curiosity.

"Why is that?"

James flashed his eyes towards her, then looked away, feeling shy. He was still not used to driving around a pretty girl by himself around the countryside.

"Well, uh, it's disrespectful to leave their bodies out in the open. It's not Christian."

He glanced over, but was slightly perturbed by Monika's immediate response of looking out towards the surroundings. Was she...irked?

 _Whatever,_ He thought. _She must be just surveying the area._

As they drove further around, Monika was captivated by all of the different grandiose buildings. From museums to plazas, to government buildings and restaurants, Monika felt a compulsion to visit every single one of them. In excitement, she turned around to face James, bouncing up and down like a kid heading to the local fair.

"James! James! Can we visit these places?"

James looked over at her, inwardly freaked out by her behavior. Every girl, both young and old, that he had met was either formal, fake, casual, pretentious or just boring. It was quite a change in pace to interact with someone so sprightly.

"Uh, well-"

He felt his right hand grabbed by both of Monika's hands, which made him jolt and gasp in shock. He looked over to see her way closer to his face than he had expected.

"Please? I want to visit them...with _you_."

James felt his face burn, and took his foot off the pedal. The jeep began to slow down, and as he pulled over instinctively, he locked eyes with her.

They were Emerald green, and seemed to contain a constantly moving depth to them, like a shifting kaleidoscope.

Such beautiful eyes.

Monika was looking back at him, her bouncing slowing down, as she gazed back at him, and the moment left both of them in the silence, save for the soft humming of the jeep.

 _Take her to the park,_ One side of James' mind demanded.

 _We don't have time for that. We need to scavenge,_ Reasoned the practical side of James.

 _Fuck that, you dumbass. Take this drop-dead hot girl to the museum, or plaza, or something._

 _No, we_ need _to scavenge, it's necessary for survival, and sticking around in town for too long could attract unwanted-_

 _BITCH, THIS IS A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY THAT YOU HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH, SO TAKE IT!_

As James' mind wrestled with the decisions, the side of teenage intimacy was winning out as Monika's eyes continued looking into his.

 _What if she's a spy?_

That random thought jarred his internal fighting, and he turned his head away, sliding his arm out of her hands.

"We'll, uh, see about what we can do."

Monika looked at him with a longing expression, which ignited James' teenage hormones, but he suppressed his urges and continued driving. That thought still itched in the back of his mind.

 _Is she a spy?_

 _What if she is?_

 _Is she trying to seduce me? What does she have to gain?_

 _Maybe this is her way of infiltrating the country…_

The only thing that was as strong as James' teenage desires was his undying patriotism to his country. From the minute he came out of the womb of his mother, he had witnessed, read, and heard of events and instances of how his country had strived to protect the rights of the citizens, to create one unity for all, and to bring democracy and justice. Living in the country, in such a patriotic community had formed him to be one of the most patriotic individuals around.

Thus, even the very idea of accidentally or purposely allowing infiltration, subjugation, subversion, or traitorous acts to sprout or happen within his country for the sake of bringing about the downfall of such an idolized nation was so abhorrent to him, it might as well be the equivalent of threatening to undermine the Lord Himself.

However, he felt that as a citizen of the country, he could keep a watchful eye over her and any actions she committed. It was the only reason he lied to the checkpoint guards, and he still felt horrible about doing so.

Now, with his mind cleared, he focused on the mission ahead.

* * *

James was starting to get pissed. He had come to town, intending to find ammo and any supplies left behind, but the grocery stores were cleaned out, and the gun stores he had seen were empty, with not even a single bullet left behind. However, this was to be expected. Many of the towns near the coastlines of the country, save for the east, were vacated by the UFAA, and as a result many citizens took with them their belongings. This included store owners and their merchandise, and firearms were going for especially high prices since the war. James started thinking about other places in town that might contain some sort of supplies.

At that time, they passed by a cathedral, to which James immediately performed the sign of the cross. Monika looked over to see him do so, and James noticed her face was one of onset calm. Then she muttered;

"Why do you worship a being who allows such suffering to pass…"

James was mildly irked at the comment, but he had heard his fair share of religious bashing, especially in today's war-intense climate. However, he didn't think he would appreciate to hear this if time went on.

"James."

James tilted his head towards Monika, occasionally glancing to the road.

"Why do you believe in God?"

Silence ensued for a few seconds as James processed the question. He wasn't mentally prepared to deal with a debate right now.

"Well, uh...I just...I think there's a higher power in the universe-"

"A kind higher power?"

"Well, yes, a good being that made us as His creations. But, look, we don't have to discuss this right now."

James was suddenly frightened to see Monika's face contort in horror and fear. Her hands slithered around James, clasping him as she tried to gaze into his eyes desperately.

"Oh, god, James, I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to offend you! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"

James was majorly perturbed by how Monika had suddenly switched gears, as she began to sob, begging forgiveness.

"Please, _please_ , don't leave me! I'll never disagree again!"

"M-Monika! You're fine! You didn't do anything wrong!"

 _You fucking IDIOT! What did you say to make her cry?!_ James thought in a panic, chiding himself.

He wrapped his arms awkwardly around her, trying to comfort her.

"Hey, hey, I would never leave you! Okay?"

Monika sniffled, her sobbing coming to a silence for a few seconds.

"...Never?"

"Of course not! In fact..."

James looked around the town for a few moments, his eyes finally lighting up as he spotted something.

"...Why don't we get some ice cream, huh?"

* * *

As James delved into the few salvageable ice cream buckets left in the freezer, Monika waited at the counter, swinging her upper body around slowly as she clasped her hands behind her back. They had found a Baskin-Robbins in the town, luckily, though only a couple buckets were still preserved. The rest had turned rotten, and stunk to high heaven.

"Let's see. They have Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Chip- Wow, there are a lot of chocolates in here- and Strawberry."

Monika perked up at the last one.

"Ooh, that sounds nice. I'll have Strawberry, then."

"Alrighty."

With that, James used the scooper he had found in the tray and brought over a waffle cone, then scooped a couple portions of the Strawberry ice cream into the cone. However, he was quite clumsy with the process, and ended up giving the stacked ice cream the look of a head that was bent inwards. Monika stifled her laughter as James handed it over. He was slightly peeved that it didn't look like the neat, perfect ice cream that was presented in the commercials.

James then took a couple scoops of chocolate fudge and made his own ice cream, which still looked like someone with a caved-in skull. He grumbled as he hopped over the counter and sat down at the nearest table, licking his ice cream solemnly. Monika took the other seat at the table, and they enjoyed the ice cream together.

At least, Monika did.

She felt slightly saddened to see James, though he was eating his ice cream, had taken the chair facing the outside, and was scanning with his eyes, constantly on alert for any threat that would present itself. Tis was the world they lived in.

However, Monika was not satisfied with this. She would be happy to fight alongside James, and she was already happy with being in this world, but she wanted more from it.

She wanted to attend high-school, get great grades, go out and explore the world, and graduate.

She wanted to go to college, work towards her degree, have fun at parties, and finally attain her major.

She wanted to work, and work hard, to make money, to buy her first apartment, to get her driver's license.

She wanted to marry James, move into a nice house with him, and raise a family.

She wanted to grow old with him, and live out their final days on a porch, holding hands as they stared out into the sunset.

She wanted to _live_.

Alas, she found that that paradise was so very far away. In reality, she was faced with a war-torn world, in which she knew next to nothing of, with death, destruction, violence, and other horrible atrocities waiting around every corner. It would be an arduous journey to achieve what she desired.

 _But if that was her challenge, then so be it._

"How's the ice cream, Monika?"

Monika raised her head, beaming at James. For now, she would work towards her goal, and satisfy herself with what she had.

"It's wonderful."

* * *

 _Rrrrrrrrr._

As they were finishing up their cones, James noticed a slight tremor shaking the parlor. Curious, he pushed out from his seat and walked over to the front door, peeking through it and down the street.

Monika turned around, nibbling on the waffle cone as she tilted her head.

"What is it, James?"

His face turned white. He hoped to God whatever that... _thing_ he saw in the distance was an illusion of the landscape. However, he wasn't planning to find out. Immediately, he turned to Monika.

"Get over and behind the counter, and keep your head down NOW." He demanded in a hushed tone.

Without a second thought, Monika threw down her cone and hopped over counter, pushing herself against the bottom to keep from being seen. James followed suit, but peeked his head up slightly so as to see what was passing by the large windows.

 _RRRRRRR._

The humming got louder, and James made it out to be vehicle engines.

 _THUMP. THUMP. THUMP._

 _What the hell is that?_

Before his eyes, James saw an unimaginable sight before him pass by.

Accompanied by four humvees packed with SEB soldiers, a tank with four spider-like legs crawled by slowly, its every thump causing quakes in the ground around it, even reaching James and Monika. The tank itself was beige-colored, and had two mini-guns on either side of the main cannon that embodied its mouth. The legs had several tubes, wires, and other tech running through it. As it continued down the path, behind it trailed more jeeps. Fortunately for James, none of them took notice to the ice cream shop. James was thankful for his paranoia, as earlier he had parked the Jeep in the alley behind the shop in case an enemy patrol happened to pass by.

Eventually, the giant patrol was nothing but trail dust in the distance, the rumbling of jeeps and thumping of the tank fading slowly. James sighed in relief, having held his breath in anticipation. He looked over to see Monika shaken by the encounter, having seen the terrifying, sci-fi tank herself. He felt obliged to assure her.

"Hey, are you okay-"

"That was AWESOME!"

Monika squealed this statement in excitement, leaving James in a perplexed state as to why she would have enjoyed that.

"Wha-What do you mean, _awesome_? That was fucking terrifying! We almost got-"

He failed to finish his sentence as he felt himself pushed against the wall, with Monika pressing herself against James, putting her arms on his chest as she leaned in close, breathing heavily.

 _Wait, her arms…_ James thought.

"God, that was _so_ exhilarating!" Monika exclaimed. "I was so nervous and scared when they came up the street, but now I feel...invigorated!"

James could feel her leg press against his.

 _Her legs…._

Finally, with an insurmountable amount of willpower, he pushed himself off Monika, breathing heavily as he clung against the back wall. His body was steaming hot, and he felt light-headed. But her recent actions wasn't what he was focused on.

"Monika, when were you treated?"

Monika tilted her head confusedly.

"I mean, you had splinters in your legs, body, and arms, and I don't recall when they were removed. Did you receive surgery from someone before you came to the street fight?"

 _Maybe it was Doctor Jenkins,_ James pondered. _He could have seen her injured in the home and treated her whilst I was away. But then again, she came into the fight 5 minutes after I arrived, so could the surgery have been that fast….?_

Monika shrugged.

"No one treated me. I just recall finding it easier and less painful to move as I was trying to get to you. I guess I didn't notice that they had disappeared. I thought our bodies just naturally healed over time-"

Monika stopped mid-sentence, and immediately switched subjects as James perked up to her last comment.

"But regardless, what was that tank with four legs?"

James was not having that.

"Wait…what do you mean, ' _I thought our bodies just naturally healed over time'_?"

Monika said nothing.

"Why are you talking about the human body like it's a foreign concept to you?"

Monika, being the master manipulator she was, came up with an excuse on the spot.

"I meant I had never gotten injured like that before, so I thought injuries like that just healed the same as scratches or scrapes."

James' suspicion of her slip-up dissipated upon hearing that, believing her immediately. She didn't look to be one who got injured often, especially not like the serious wounds she had earlier. Her skin was soft and her complexion clear, with absolutely no signs of past scars. Yet he was still off-put by the first problem.

"With that aside, are you basically telling me that your wounds, which should have received surgery, just healed up, even with the splinters _still embedded in your body_?"

Monika shrugged once again, a little frightened of how bewildered he sounded.

James shook his head. He had no idea how to react to this discovery. He could deal with this anomaly more studiously at home.

With that, he slung the rifle he had held in his hands so tightly back over his shoulder, standing up and placing his hand on the counter as he surveyed the street in front of the shop once more. Once he was assured, he hopped over the counter, then reached back over to assist Monika.

As they headed outside, James looked towards the horizon. The sun was only around two hours from setting, which prompted James to wonder how time had passed so fast in town.

He also noted that the patrol they had just seen was heading northeast, along the routes by the front lines. He had no idea what that spider tank could do, but it was most assuredly nothing good. He turned back to Monika, who was sitting there with both hands clasped in front of her, swinging slowly from side to side.

"We need to finish up our scavenging and head back home to alert the UFAA about that patrol."

* * *

The Jeep came to a slow stop in front of the Victoria City Police Department. Monika admired the grandeur architecture of the marble structure, especially the pillars, which were evenly spaced, save for the absence of them in front of the entrance. James, however, was not in the mood for scenery.

"Let's get to searching."

He came up to the door, rifle unslung as he edged the door open. He peeked inside, and upon finding nothing threatening, swung the door open fully. He walked inside, keeping on the side of caution as he scanned his surroundings. Monika came in from behind, pointing her Makarov downwards as she also looked around.

They went about, searching each room they came upon. However, James' spirits continued to drop as every room they searched came up empty.

After about 10 minutes of searching, James leaned against the wall, slacking his hold on the rifle as he sighed.

"Damn it, this town's picked clean. I kind of expected the police station to be cleaned out, but the entirety of this town is just... _empty_."

Monika said nothing. She was nowhere near acquainted with this world, much less familiar with anything in it. Hence, there was nothing she could contribute information-wise, and decided it was best to just follow James' lead. One thing she noted, though, was that James, since he had found her at the park, had not questioned her on where she came from. She wondered if this was because he had felt that it was not necessary or that she had proved herself during the fight with the SEB soldiers in Galveston enough that she did not require questioning. Or he just forgot. However, considering how wary and alert people were in this country, James included, it was most likely the latter was not the case.

"Hey, Monika, we got one last room to search. Let's get to it."

Monika was stirred from her deep thinking, and nodded towards James. He acknowledged her, walking over to the last room and opening it.

"Holy shit!"

From the portion of the room James was seeing, it was ammunition and guns galore. From light machine guns to hunting rifles, firearms lined the racks from one end of the room to the other. On shelves, cartridges of all types of bullets were scattered about, most of them unopened. To his right, an AT-4 anti-tank weapon laid against the wall. James' eyes shined as he eyed the weapon.

"Is that a damn rocket launcher?!"

 _Click._

James heard the cocking of a pistol.

"Take your hands off your rifle. Now."

James began to turn pale as he took his hands off his rifle, putting them in the air.

"Now unsling your rifle and lay it on the ground _slowly_."

James complied, subconsciously noting the slight Mexican accent of the person holding the gun to his head.

"Now turn around."

James did so, and came face to face with a surly-looking man in soldier's garments, who was watching him with caution in his eyes.

He glanced over the man's uniform and saw bloodied bandages wrapped around his sides. He looked up to see a UFAA-MD patch on his shoulder. He was part of the Mexican Division of the UFAA.

"Who the hell are you?"

James perked up upon being addressed.

"James McCarthy...sir." He remembered that he had his driver's license in his wallet, which he carried in his pocket, and was about to reach into his back pocket when he realized how bad that would seem to the person holding the gun. He looked back to the soldier.  
"I'm going to get my ID and show you."

The man nodded, keeping his eyes trained on James' every movement. With that, James turned his upper torso around and slowly reached into his back pocket, sliding out his wallet, then opening it to take out his license. He flashed it to the soldier, who looked over it slowly before nodding. He uncocked the gun and lowered it.

"I apologize for that. But- nngh."

The man grunted in pain, placing his free hand over the bandaged wound. James was prompted to ask about it.

"What happened to your- Oh, wait."

He turned around, calling out to the hallway.

"Monika, it's safe to come inside."

A couple seconds passed by, then Monika peeked her head around the door, seeing James and the soldier with a gun, whom she eyed in suspicion.

"Don't worry, he's part of the UFAA."

Monika nodded, then walked in, holstering her weapon awkwardly. As the soldier saw this action, he holstered his own handgun.

"So, who are you guys?" The soldier asked.

* * *

Within a couple minutes, James and Monika had briefed the soldier on where they came from and their intentions in the city. The soldier revealed himself as Carlos García, a Sergeant of the Mexican Division of the UFAA who had been stranded in the city after a large patrol came by and wiped out his squad. James noticed Carlos had clenched his fists upon mentioning the patrol. He was sure the man was filled with rage and sorrow about having lost his entire unit.

"We thought we were prepared for anything, but this...menacing tank tore us to pieces. It had legs that crawled up onto one of the buildings and ambushed us with missile fire from above. We never saw it coming."

James perked up at the description of the tank.

"You saw a tank with...legs? Did they look like spider legs?"

Carlos nodded, tilting his head in question of how James got this.

"We...saw that tank pass by a couple hours ago."

Carlos' adopted a grim expression.

"I thought I had heard odd thumps outside earlier. That damn thing…"

Continuing, Carlos told them he had to find refuge in the police station after the attack, and decided to bring the weaponry of his fallen squad with him. He had considered heading towards one of the UFAA bases or outposts, but he was stuck in a city with no directions to any of the main bases he knew, and had no idea where the US UFAA outposts were, and of course, it was too dangerous to try and retreat back down to Mexico, as there was too much risk of encountering SEB soldiers. He had to live off of the MREs he had kept for the one month he stayed there, and it almost drove him mad.

"For some days, I considered just ending it…" Carlos remarked, his eyes drifting off to the side of James, who felt discomforted by the sudden shift in the atmosphere. He looked over, wondering how Monika was faring, and was off-put by how cruel her eyes looked as they aimed at Carlos.

"Another one, huh?..." She muttered under her breath.

Carlos shook his head, focusing back on the two.

"But I didn't want to just give up on my country. So I stayed here, hoping a UFAA patrol would pass through here eventually, and that's when you two came along."

James took in all of this information. Clearly, there was only one thing to do.

"Carlos."

The soldier looked at him.

"I can offer you a ride to Houston, so you can inform the UFAA of your situation, and of that nightmare of a tank."

Carlos was silent for a moment, and James was afraid he would say no. However, he was surprised to see the soldier lower his head, breathing heavily. He tried to hide it, but he was crying.

"Thank you, James." He blurted. "I've been so cooped up here, I was starting to lose hope. I've been so lonely all this time, with nothing but my grief and rage to accompany me."

James shuffled a bit, discomforted by the weeping soldier. He wasn't used to seeing adults in a vulnerable state.

"However, I would like to make a stop first at my hometown to check in on some things."

Carlos looked back up, wiping his tears. He nodded, his gaze hard set as he felt a newfound determination. It was his mission to make sure his comrades' deaths were not in vain.

"Let's go."

With that, James and Monika, each shouldering either of Carlos' arms, walked back to the car. Carlos agreed to allow them to take what weapons and ammunition they could in duffel bags they found in the police station, but they would need to give up what firearms were there to the UFAA when they got to Houston.

A little more than 20 minutes later, when most of the supplies was loaded in, James rotated his shoulder blade, which ached from all of the heavy lifting. He didn't want Monika carrying too much weight, for gentlemanly reasons. However, they couldn't load all of the weaponry on board, as the mounted machine gun took up at least 50% of the space in the back. Thus, James prioritized the most effective weapons of battle, with help from the Sergeant (As James most likely would have just picked the coolest-looking guns).

As Monika was getting in the passenger seat of the jeep, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned around to see James looking at her with a serious expression.

"When we get back to Galveston, we're gonna have to talk about….recent discoveries."

To that remark, Monika nodded silently. She knew he was bound to confront her, but she herself did not have answers to most of the questions he was probably going to ask.

With that, James hopped in the driver's seat, looking back to see Carlos sitting around the duffel bags. He gave the thumbs up. James flashed a grin, and with that, they took off, leaving dust trails in Victoria as they headed off for Galveston.

* * *

For the first two hours of the drive, Carlos informed James and Monika of a plethora of things. He told them about the current situation of the UFAA in Mexico, where the MD (Mexican Division) were struggling to keep SEB from expanding across Mexico. They had established a strong beachhead at the forefront of the East, and were capturing Mexico's oil rigs. He also told them, from reports of MD-UFAA that worked more east in Mexico, of the military experiments the SEB were releasing onto the country. Rumors of armor that could use advanced camouflage technology to blend in with the environment almost completely, ships that flew in the sky, dropping down soldiers from above, and even superhuman atrocities that incited terror in even the most courageous and brave were the brunt of the talk.

All of this talk chilled James to the bones. He imagined he would hear this in science fiction, yet it seemed to be coming to life, and near his own home. He was deeply unsettled by this.

Carlos went on to tell of rumors from other countries. In Japan, there was talk of a young girl, around 17 years old, who was becoming a prodigy of intelligence analysis, giving the IWA and edge over SEB forces. There were also rumors of a rather short and scrawny teenager, also a girl, who was becoming an ace pilot in Europe, referred to as the Blue Baron. She was said to be able to take out enemy planes with dead-on precision.

James felt his spirits brought up by talk of these young individuals rising to the occasion, as it gave him hope that he, also a youngster, could do his duty for his country.

He was put-off when Carlos stopped his talking, seemingly having remembered something grim.

"What is it?" James inquired. He knew something was bothering Carlos based on his expression. Carlos looked at him, hesitant to garner the next piece of information he had.

"Apparently...there's also a young adult in Russia, who's supposedly been controlling monstrous nightmares. They call her 'The Queen of Monsters', and a lot of people support the theory that she's the one who's been sending these hellish creatures to invade our mainlands."

Once more, James was shaken deeply.

 _How the hell am I supposed to deal with this?!,_ He thought.

During this entire discussion, however, James noticed Monika was admiring the landscape, seemingly still in awe of this bland scenery. He had no idea where Monika lived prior to him finding her, but he shivered to think about what would make miles of flatland dotted with houses and trees appealing.

* * *

In the final hour of the drive, Carlos fell asleep, having divulged all of the information he had about foreign matters. It was midnight, and James had to turn on the headlights to keep seeing the road. It was mostly silent, save for the soft humming of the jeep engine and 'In The Air Tonight' by Phil Collins playing at 25% volume on the radio. James felt tired from the nerve-wracking day he had, and had to keep himself from falling asleep at the wheel.

He turned behind him to see Carlos dozing peacefully. He smiled, then turned to his right, and almost jumped to see Monika staring at him, a blissful look in her eyes as she leaned on her elbow, her hand resting on her cheek. James shifted in his seat slightly, once again feeling flustered thanks to Monika.

She continued to stare at him, smiling contentedly. This went on for a couple moments, with James glancing between her stare and the road. He finally felt the need to break the silence.

"So, uh-"

He cleared his throat.

"M-Monika. I'm, uh, surprised you're...not asleep...yet."

"I can't sleep when i'm in paradise."

"...Oh."

She had responded in such a way that James felt she was absolutely sincere in her words. He had no idea why she considered this paradise, but he was thinking maybe she was trying to make some advances on him. He was not sure what to do about that, and so he sat, saying nothing. His cheeks reddened slightly.

"James."

"Y-yeah?"

"I love you."

 _Welp._

…

…

…

"...Okay."

 _You fucking idiot._

However, Monika didn't seem bothered by his answer. She continued her gaze at him, as if he were her soul mate. James felt his face heat up. The radio music ramped up as Monika continued her confession.

"I fell in love with you the moment I saw you. Ever since I found solace in this world, I've loved everything about it. Especially _you_."

James was silent.

"I don't know if you can understand what i've been through. I don't expect you to. I just want you to know that me being here, with you, and not in that…. _other place_ ….is everything i've ever wanted. I am truly happy."

James was silent.

"I love you for saving me."

James was silent.

"I love you for caring for me."

James was silent.

"I love you for showing me how to survive in this world."

James was fucking silent.

"Above all, I love you for granting my one and only wish."

If James could be any more silent in that moment, he would have broken the sound scale.

"I would do _anything_ for you, James."

 _SKRRCH._

Monika jerked forward, put off by his sudden stop. Carlos was heard groaning in the back.

"What happened-"

She cupped her hand over her mouth as she gazed upon what was previously the UFAA checkpoint, now in shambles from what looked to be missile fire. Flames encroached upon the remnants of the small stop, and dead bodies were thrown about the place, filled with bullet holes, peppered with shrapnel and scorched with burn marks all over. James, who was shocked by the horrible sight, jumped out of the jeep, running towards one particular body. Monika got out of her seat and ran over to see James holding the body, tears falling onto the corpse's face.

"Richard...no…"

James wept over the body as he cradled the corpse's head softly. A serious burn mark had overtaken the majority of his face, almost making him unrecognizable to others. She felt shivers crawl up her spine when she noticed one of his eyes bulging out, the skin around it melted and charred.

James looked up, a horrifying thought occurring to him. He laid the body's head down softly as he uttered:

"Galveston…"

Before Monika could react, James hopped up, running over to the Jeep and revving the engine. Monika eventually snapped out of it and ran over, getting into the passenger seat as James drove down the road.

As they sped down the highway, Monika could hear James muttering to himself. She had no clue what to say to reassure him.

She was just as dreading of the town's condition as he was.

 _Skrrrrrrrrrrrrt._

The jeep came to a slow rolling stop as James' hands dropped from the wheel. Monika, seeing the same sight, looked over at him, tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, James."


	4. The Attack

**Chapter 4: The Attack**

Bright orange and red lights, shimmering through the haze that was tears in James' eyes. He could hear screams of terror coming from deep within the town, the siege seemingly not finished yet. Explosions boomed and gunfire rang out, hitting James' ears like raindrops. A storm billowed in from the horizon, blacking out the stars and keeping them from seeing the massacre that was happening in the town. The fires engulfed entire houses, property, and people alike, burning indiscriminately.

James had grown up here.

He had played baseball at the local park with his father.

He had visited the small-time restaurants, getting to know the employees and owners.

He had grown to love the tight-knit community of this place.

And now, before him, it all burned up in one night, with only ashes to show for memories.

James unslung his rifle, rage beginning to replace sorrow. He jumped up, gunning towards the town.

"No!" Monika yelled in anguish. She knew the town was most likely full of those soldiers, and she was horrified by the prospect of James thrusting himself into a suicidal firefight. However, before she could make any moves, James halted in his tracks.

In front of him, a girl, whom he recognized to be the younger sister of the two girls that had been taken hostage by the SEB patrol yesterday, was wandering around aimlessly, shell-shocked, blood splattered on her clothing and face.

"Alice?" She called out randomly. "I'm scared. Where are you, Alice?"

Behind her trailed an old man, dragging his feet alongside his rifle by the barrel, staring at the ground wide-eyed. He also had blood splattered across his uniform and skin. He stumbled to the ground, and took a seat on the highway's concrete divider. The girl continued to wander down the lane, walking past the old man without acknowledgement, continuing to call for her missing sister.

"Gary." James muttered.

He ran over to the old man, slinging his rifle as he grabbed the man by his shoulders.

"Gary! What the fuck happened in town?! Please tell me!"

Gary said nothing, staring at the concrete ground beyond James. Monika was in anguish as she gazed upon the cruel scene. James looked back to see her standing there.

"What the hell are you waiting for, Monika?! Get that little girl and ask her what happened!"

Monika snapped out of her trance and nodded, looking down the road to see the little girl still walking aimlessly. She ran over, grabbing her shoulder with one hand and turning her around. She was appalled by the sickly mess before her.

The girl was as pale as a ghost, most likely the result of the stab wound in her side, which had stained the majority of the bottom part of her torn dress. Dirt and dust stained her hair and skin. Worst of all, her eyes had the thousand-yard stare, something only those with PTSD or severe trauma would possess.

Monika felt her heart drop at seeing the girl in such a poor state. She knew there would be no getting to this girl right now. She picked her up and carried her over to the jeep, to where Carlos was. He himself was gazing upon the tragedy of the burning town before him, but he looked over to see Monika approaching. He said nothing as she put the girl in the backseat alongside Carlos.

"Please look over her for now."

Carlos nodded solemnly.

Monika looked back over to where James was. It seemed he had finally gotten Gary to speak, as he was moving his mouth. As Monika walked over, she heard a continuation of what he was muttering.

"...They slaughtered everyone they could see."

James released his shoulder, looking down at the ground as tears dripped down his cheeks. He fell to his knees, sobbing into his hands. Monika's heart felt torn by the sight. Gary, though he was still in a shell-shocked state, was slowly beginning to snap out of his mental shock, and focused on James, who was still sobbing in front of him.

One particular scream from the town reached the group's ears, to which they invariably turned their heads to the noise.

Then, Monika heard the sound of a rifle cocking. She looked to see James had unslung his rifle, and was getting up to run towards the town, his eyes burning with absolute rage, gritting his teeth in fury.

"James, no!"

She managed to grab him by his waist, to which he cursed at her extensively, yelling at her to let him go.

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL THEM ALL! LET ME GO!"

He continued to struggle, and Monika began pleading with him.

"James, please! You'll die if you try to fight them! They're probably swarming the entire town! There's no point!"

Eventually, James began to slow his struggle as his rage began to subside. Monika took this chance to further convince him.

"James, we can get back at them someday, but for now we need to get out of here and tell the UFAA what happened. Please."

James crumpled to his knees once again, looking at the town as his rifle fell from his open hands.

The two sat there in silence, Monika holding him in comfort, and James looking at what remained of his hometown.

Home Sweet Home.

* * *

After a couple moments more of the solemn silence, Monika sat up, wiping her eyes.

"We need to go. I'm sure they will be coming back across the highway if we don't go."

She looked down at James, who was sitting still, staring at his rifle. After a moment, he muttered,

"Yeah."

He got up, slinging his rifle and looking over at Gary, who had begun weeping. Monika decided to step in for James as the talker, knowing he was going through emotional trauma at the moment.

"Gary, we're heading to Houston, and we can drop you off there so you can receive protection from the UFAA. Come with us."

Gary said nothing for a couple moments, gripping the rifle in his hands as he looked over at the burning town that was his home for so many years. He looked back at the ground, drained and fatigued.

"Alright."

He got up, slinging his rifle over his shoulder and dragging his feet to the jeep, along with James. Monika walked behind James as they headed out.

As soon as Monika closed the door to her side of the jeep, a faint shouting was heard from the distance. It sounded foreign, and everyone in the jeep perked up to the sound. Eventually, Monika, using her 20/20 vision, looked down the road to see gray uniforms running towards them, pointing guns at them. Her eyes widened in alarm.

"Those are SEB agents! Get down-"

A bullet flashed by, whizzing past Monika's ear and skimming it. She groaned, cupping it as she sucked through her teeth in pain. Many bullets followed the first, whizzing by and hitting the jeep.

" _YOU SONS OF BITCHES AREN'T SATISFIED YET?! THEN TASTE LEAD, YOU EASTERN SHITHEADS_!"

Monika heard the cocking of a bolt, then

 _ **BANG!**_

She covered her ears in pain as the gunshot rang in her ears. James, seeing what Gary was doing, was about to follow suit, picking up his rifle, when Monika yelled at him.

"NO! We can't stay here any longer or we'll die! Let's get out of here and tell the UFAA!"

James, though he was infuriated by the chance to get revenge, contained his anger and started the jeep. It revved loudly as the high beams turned on. He then turned the wheel and pressed the gas lightly, until the jeep was facing the other end of the highway. He then floored the pedal to the metal, screeching off as bullets followed them.

* * *

"They're following us!" Monika shouted as she saw headlights in the distance. SEB jeeps were trailing behind them, but the lights on the car were preventing Monika from further seeing what they were planning to do.

However, she was cleared on their intent when a bullet whizzed just by her face as she turned. Time slowed as she saw the shine on the bullet, before it made a hole in the windshield of the jeep.

 _Whizz-_ _ **Crack!**_

James jumped in surprise as he saw the bullet smash through part of the windshield in his peripheral vision. He looked back and saw the pursuing jeeps, ire in his eyes.

"Those damn Sebbies!"

Gritting his teeth, he looked at Monika.

"Get on the gun."

Monika did not need any further instruction, knowing exactly what he meant. Holstering her Makarov, she turned around and stood on the pad for the mounted machine gun, placing her hands on both of the grips, and saw the triggers.

"Make sure to pull the charging handle before firing-Oh god, that one almost hit me!"

Monika nodded to herself. She saw a handle below the grips and, assuming it was the charging handle, pulled on it. It was extremely difficult to pull back, but with enough strain she was able to. Pushing it back in, she then placed her hands back on the grips and her fingers over the triggers.

She focused the sight on the space in between the headlights pursuing them.

She pulled the trigger.

 _ **BRATATATATATATATATAT!**_

The machine gun blasted at the pursuing jeep, tearing it to shred with a hail of bullets. A couple bullets tore into the driver and passengers, and red mist flew out from the jeep. As the driver fell onto the wheel, the jeep turned on its side and flipped over several times, retreating into the distance before exploding. A torrent of rain was pounding the landscape as a heavy storm overtook the night sky and drowned out the explosion of the jeep.

The adrenaline was getting to Monika, who yelled in ecstasy from the battle. However, her victory was short-lived, as more sets of headlight shined through the thick fog that was accruing from the weather. Without hesitation, Monika swiveled the machine gun, aiming the sights from the left, and pulling the triggers as she swept from left to right.

 _ **BRATATATATATATATATATATAT!**_

The bullets ripped across the landscape, tearing into everything. Grass plods were sent flying as the thick bullets smashed into the ground, passing buildings creaked or caved in from the impact of them, and the jeep were all but peppered with the casings. Several of the trailing humvees exploded or crashed into nearby structures, but many were still gaining.

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BRATATATATAT!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BRATATATTAT!**_

Gunfire was traded between Monika and the jeeps, all while the passengers in James' jeep ducked for cover as bullets flew overhead. The little girl cried loudly and shook in fear, though she was ultimately drowned out by the constant rattling of gunfire. Carlos went to hold her, comforting her as she shook in his arms.

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BRATAT!  
BANG!**_

 _ **BRATATATATATAT!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

Bullets were skimming Monika's skin, though she was unaware due to the extreme amount of adrenaline that was coursing through her veins. She felt invigorated, strengthened, _invincible_ as she absolutely obliterated everything that she swept her machine gun across.

Eventually, realizing how costly it would be to continue chasing the jeep, the SEB vehicles retreated, their headlights fading into the distance as they stopped. The exchange of gunfire eventually slowed as the SEB were left in the dust, and Monika stopped firing the machine gun.

James, during this whole firefight, had been swerving the vehicle off-road and back on-road to avoid as many bullets from piercing his valuable jeep as possible. However, it didn't do too much, as the back was peppered with bullet holes, the sides ruined with streaks of bullets having skimmed them. He groaned.

"My jeep is going to look so shitty now."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Monika dive into the passenger's seat of the jeep, panting heavily from the firefight and bouncing up and down as the adrenaline was still pumping in her veins. James looked over to observe, then focused back on the road.

"We're gonna need to find more ammo for that machine gun. It's gonna be a bitch, though, because coming by .50 caliber bullets isn't-!"

"Did you see me on that gun, James?! I was all like ' _bratatatat'_ and they just got _fucking owned!"_

James sighed as she ranted on about the firefight. He turned on the radio, to find ' _We're Not Gonna Take It'_ playing on the current station. Putting his hand back on the wheel, he thought back to Galveston, and his knuckles turned white as he thought about the injustice of it all.

He would get revenge on those sons of bitches for what they did.

Whatever it took.

He turned up the volume, and drove down the road, heading for Houston.

* * *

 **Upcoming -** Chapter 5: The UFAA


	5. The City

**Chapter 5: The City**

It was deep into the night, about two hours after fleeing Galveston, that James was beginning to feel fatigue.

He was tired.

 _Really_ tired.

As the jeep hummed softly and the tires spun on the gravel below, everyone had fallen asleep, most definitely tired out from the gruesome day they had.

Everyone except Monika.

She was staring at James, this time a mix of love and sorrow evident in her eyes. James looked over at her, his grim expression leading to more heartache in Monika. She wanted to help him, to comfort him, to tell him everything would be okay. Of course she knew that would not be appropriate, but she felt like she wanted to offer him some sort of emotional support.

Now was not the time for that, however. James could see the oncoming checkpoint in the distance. He took a look around the jeep, seeing the group he had amassed from his short journey. The little girl, upon being woken up, was quietly sobbing as the memories of what she encountered came back to her.

"I thought it was just a nightmare…" She muttered, laying against Carlos, who was deeply saddened by the sight.

Gary was staring out at the scenery they passed by, grumbling to himself.

Monika, without a doubt, was completely focused on what James was saying, ready to hang onto every word that came out of his mouth.

"Alright, guys." James started, gathering their attention. "We're coming up to a checkpoint into Houston." He looked to Carlos.

"Carlos, what should we be doing to, like, not get shot?"

Carlos understood what he was trying to say.

"First off, keep your hands _away_ from your weapons _at all times_. They don't know who you are, and any gesture of ill intent can easily alarm them. In fact, just keep them up, except for you, James, put them up in the air when you've stopped the jeep"

"Second, when they ask you to get out, do it slowly and in a calm fashion. It should be quite obvious that jerking around or making sudden movements can give off the wrong vibe."

"Finally, let me handle the talking, since i'm part of the UFAA."

Everyone nodded, and they drove up to the checkpoint. It was a set of two massive gates on each highway lane, with a rampart spanning the entirety of the top. Two sets of fences lined with barbed wire on top stretched out to either side, spanning to the east and west, with armed guards patrolling down the lanes. As two of them sat on lawn chairs casually, seemingly engaged in a conversation. 'Footloose' blared over the radio that was sitting on a small table next to them.

"I'm tellin' ya, Ricky, tracksuits look so tacky now'days!"

Ricky shook his head, thinking about how _fucking stupid_ Joey was.

"No no no, Joey! You only think that 'cus ya haven't seen one in action on the dance floor. Just wait till ya get a sight of…"

Ricky looked in the distance and, upon seeing the oncoming jeep, grabbed for his rifle.

"Hey Joey, we got some visitors."

Joey, seeing the jeep, made a face.

"Why the hell would the Sebbies send a single patrol 'ta our gates?"

"They're probably not Sebbies then, dipshit."

"Ey, screw you."

They pointed their rifles at the oncoming jeep, and Ricky began to shout down at them as they stopped.

"What is your-"

"Ricky, use the megaphone."

"Oh, right."

Ricky reached down to right and picked up the megaphone, laying down his rifle, then held the trigger on the megaphone whilst speaking through the comms attached to it.

"Exc-i-yuse me, travelers, but what is ya purpose for rollin' up 'ta this gate?"

James' group put their hands up, including James when as the jeep slowly came to a stop.

"We're not commies-shit, I mean we're not Sebbies, sirs!" James shouted up to the soldiers on the rampart.

The two looked down at them, then to each other, then back down.

"Shiieet, Ricky, they look pretty American 'ta me, don't ya think? And…" Joey squinted his eyes, seeing Monika. "Dayum! That's a hottie! There's no way those Eastern sumbitches would have a hot one like that. I heard from one 'a my friends, an IWA feller named Jerry, that a lot of the Eastern girls are fugly as hell!"

Ricky made a face, then turned back to the group, lowering his weapon as he saw they were not a serious threat.

"Uh, anyways, we're gonna need 'ta see some ID 'ta-"

"Excuse me, hi."

Carlos walked up to the front of the group, loudly addressing the two soldiers. Joey tilted his head, perplexed.

"Who da fuck's that?" He asked, his attention drawn the uniformed man.

"Dunno." Ricky responded simply, shrugging. "Who're you?" He shouted.

Carlos brought down one of his hands and pointed to the insignia on his shoulder. "I'm UFAA from the Mexican Division, a Sergeant."

"Dang, really? Alright, well, i'll send Joey 'ta come down there and check y'all."

Joey groaned. "Damn it, Ricky, I was just gettin' comfortable up 'ere. Why do I have 'ta go back down?"

"Joey, just get it done, fer fuck's sake."

Joey groaned even louder, but complied, shouldering his rifle and heading down a flight of stairs. At the bottom, Joey pulled a lever and opened up the gate doors, which grinded to the sides into hidden compartments, opening up for Joey. He sauntered over and, once in front of the group, leaned in to check Carlos' shoulder.

"Woo-wee! You're _actually_ UFAA! It's good to see our amigos from 'cross the border every now and then." He looked behind the group, adopting a confused expression as he looked back at the group. "By the way, where's your squad?"

Too late, he realized the situation. Carlos looked down with a grim face.

"Oh, damn, I-I'm sorry, I didn't think…" He sighed. "I'm sure they went out fightin', Sarge."

Carlos nodded.

"Well, with that aside, I just need 'ta see yer ID's so you can come inside." Joey gestured with an outreached hand.

James pulled out his, but then noticed he was the only one to do so besides Carlos, as he saw Monika and Gary give him the open-palm gesture. The little girl, who they found to be named Emily, tugged on Gary's shirt, whispering something in his ear as he leaned down. James looked back to Joey.

"None of these people have their IDs on them."

Joey tilted his head. "Why would that be?"

 _James proceeded to explain their predicament to Joey, who almost lost focus due to James' inability to give short explanations._

"I see." Joey said, nodding his head as James finished the explanation. He looked to Monika and Gary. "We'll be able 'ta print out new IDs fer you two. I don't think I need 'ta tell ya fellers 'ta keep that on ya at all times, 'case ya need 'ta show it to one of da boys."

He then looked to Monika. "As fer you, lady, yer gonna be goin' through pro-see-jure 'ta get yer ID, since yer not from 'ere. I uh-sume you plan on becomin' a citizen 'ere, right?"

Monika nodded happily.

"Well then, good. Anyways-" He addressed the whole group then. "Head in through the gates, find a feller by the name 'a Keith at the Public Info Center, and he'll show ya 'round."

* * *

 _As the group drove through the gate and towards the inner gates of the city, continuing down the road, Monika felt prompted to question James on the structure of the UFAA. He delved into a short synopsis on the founding of the UFAA, their parameters and their authority in the Americas. From what she absorbed, it had formed in late 1984, with the intent to organize the gun-holders of the U.S. Those who wished to not partake in the defense of the country, and/or those too old or young took refuge in the West, where they were protected overseas by the Big Five in Japan, which were five gargantuan aircraft carriers that lined the coastline of Japan._

 _After a few weeks, the UFAA also took up semblage in the Central & South American countries, to which citizens raided armories, fashioned their own weapons, and even got the backing of their militaries to assist in creating the Southern American Divisions of the UFAA. _

_Front lines were created, established, and forced along the Eastern side of the Americas, when SEB naval forces had taken up beachheads lining the coasts in droves. Most assaults to fight to the interior had failed, and resulted in massive casualties on the side of the SEB. However, a few managed to breach inwards, especially in Mexico, and for a very good reason._

Monika tilted her head as he left the last statement hanging.

"What reason would that be?"

James looked outwards for a moment, recollecting what information he had gathered from his travels. Upon remembering the reason, his face became grim as he turned back to address Monika's question.

"Oil rigs."

Monika was even more perplexed than before.

"Why do those matter?"

"Well, the oil industry, as you should know, is what runs the majority of our war effort. Planes, tanks, vehicles of all kinds, power, and even more stuff that I can't name off the top of my head. In fact, it was the Sultan, Mustapha Baz, who united the Middle East under a meritocratic oligarchy and started up a massive oil industry there, allocating his resources towards SEB operations. That's how they're able to mobilize so quickly, and how they're able to fuel their war effort in terms of resources."

Monika was quite intrigued by his response.

"You are quite well-spoken, James." She noted.

"Huh?" He wasn't aware of it before, but now that she had said it, he was starting to become aware of how simple other people sounded.

"Well, I did read a lot of books when I was young-"

He was interrupted as the jeep lurched slightly from hitting a rock on the highway, clearly indicating that no one cared. James' sentence dissipated just as Monika looked around at her surroundings in awe.

As they were continuing down the highway, the landscape around them was beginning to become populated, as more and more houses populated the area in suburban outfits, with people walking to and fro, doing everyday activities. Women were hanging up laundry to dry on clothes lines, kids running around playing various games, and other regular activities. Monika noticed, however, a very subtle detail. In all of those houses, there were posters, insignias, and other pointers to information or status involving the UFAA in some shape or form. She turned to James.

"Why are there so many indications to the UFAA around here?"

However, as she noticed James' worn expression, she was beginning to see how depressed he looked, especially after the attack in Galveston. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she felt a hand grab her shoulder and pull her back slightly. It was Carlos, who was looking at her with slight frustration. He whispered in her ear as to avoid catching James' attention.

"Monika, don't you notice that he's grieving?"

Monika was still perplexed, still not making the connection.

"He's still deeply depressed from seeing his hometown razed, the people he lived by all his life slaughtered. Isn't that obvious to you?"

That question disturbed Monika. Her chest tightened as she realized just how depraved and alienated to empathy she was. All of that time in that hellhole had molded her personality to be that of sordid and contemptible, to the point where she was not even able to fully understand other people's emotions and situations. This realization hit her like a train, and she felt tears well in her eyes as she began to recall more moments in the past where she was unaware or even unfeeling to other people's situations. However, she also knew that another sorrowful person was not what James needed right now. With considerable willpower, she pushed down the feeling of sorrow and wiped her tears quickly, though Carlos noticed this and felt shameful of causing it.

"Hey, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine." She looked back up to Carlos, giving a small smile. "Thank you for telling me."

* * *

Finally, they had arrived at the Public Info Center. James pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the jeep, seeing a lanky-looking man swagger over to the jeep. His eyes flickered to the mounted machine gun on the back and he whistled low.

"Damn, son. Didn't know they handed such big guns over to fresh faces like you."

James didn't care to respond, instead opting to grunt slightly to acknowledge the statement.

"So, whaddya need, partner?"

"The guy at the front gates to this city told us to find you….Keith?"

The lanky schmuck flashed a grin, jabbing his thumb at himself.

"That's me. But uh, I kinda want more specifics on who _exactly_ sent you, bud. We got front gates at every major highway coming in and out of this city."

James scratched his head, trying to remember the name of the guy they met. He was not too good with names."

"J….Jebediah? No, uh….Johnny….er….Joe…"

"Joe sent ya?"

"No, uh, er…."

"Joey." Monika pitched in. As much as she hated to undermine James, she didn't want to sit here all day.

"Joey! That's it, that's the guy who sent me."

Keith pulled a face as the name hit his ears.

"Eugh. Fuckin' Joey."

 _Oh, no. That's not the response I wanted,_ James thought.

Keith sighed as he raised his palm upwards.

"Very well, then. I'll accommodate yer needs. What d'ya need done?"

Monika was the first to respond.

"Citizen Identification renewal for most of the people back here-" She leaned over to lightly point at the group in the back of the jeep. "-And a new one for me."

"Also, a tour around the city would be nice." James put in.

Keith nodded his head lightly, then as he looked over Monika, he was made a face.

"Hey, lady…"

Monika perked up.

"You look...alien."

James was slightly irked by the man's lack of conversational manners.

"Can you just help us already?"

Keith realized his crude statement.

"Oh sh-".

He immediately put his hands up in apology.

"I'm sorry fer sayin' that, it just came out…."

Keith sighed.

"Look, let's just get goin'."

"Sounds good."

Keith looked to Monika, then groaned inwardly.

"Okay, I know this is gonna make me out to be more of an asshole, but….I'm gonna be leadin' you guys 'round, so….I need the passenger seat."

* * *

 **Upcoming - Chapter 6: The UFAA**


	6. The UFAA

**Chapter 6: The UFAA**

 _Damn it._

Keith was bumping the knuckles on his fist against his head as he felt the girl stare daggers at him from the back row seat. He was sure she hated his guts now.

However, she was glaring at him for a very different reason.

 _I wanted to sit next to James…_

Of course, she didn't voice this openly.  
"Anyways…" Keith brought his head up, slapping his hand onto the dashboard of the jeep. "Thanks for the ride. I'll give you a tour of the inner city while we head down to the city hall for your citizen IDs."

 _From there, James drove Keith and the others into the inner city. Monika admired the contrast in grand establishments and small functions as Keith pointed to certain locations of importance and explained their history and meaning in the town and to the UFAA as a whole._

"Really, the UFAA is more of a culture than an organized military. I mean, almost everyone that is able-bodied is servin' in some role. Support, front liners, and even regular entrepreneurs on the highway you'll find are all part of the UFAA, helpin' the cause."

James was intrigued by how in-depth Keith made the organization sound. Ever since living on his own, he hadn't gotten the chance to learn about almost anything besides just trying to survive, scavenging for food, water, and ammunition. He also happened to notice that, unlike Joey, Keith's southern accent was far subtler, only slightly entering in his explanations.

"The UFAA decided to keep the current civilian government, but had handed over a lot of power not to the politicians, but to the military leaders. We learned from 'Nam that politicians only get you vain sacrifices and undirectable anger." He paused. "Now, a lot of people criticize this system we put in place as being somewhat hypocritical, seeing as the military having power undermines the populace, but since most citizens are either in the UFAA or support it, and since we're in one of the biggest wars this world has ever witnessed, we thought we were at least a _little_ justified."

As he went on with the explanations, clouds began to brew, overtaking the sky in only minutes. The breeze began to blow a bit harder as rain pelted the jeep lightly. Unfortunately for James and the others, the jeep was topless, and thus they muttered in discomfort as the rain was getting them wet.

Luckily, as Keith pointed out, they had arrived at the city hall, so the group could deal with their ID issue.

As the group got out of the jeep, Monika heard a sneeze, and glanced over to see James sniffling as he rubbed his nose. She saw Carlos move to take off his UFAA jacket and hand it to James, who nodded in gratitude. Monika subconsciously noted the action.

"Alright, let's head inside." Keith said, waving his hand towards the group as he walked into the building.

As James followed Keith through the double doors, he found the massive lobby to be a little intimidating. He remembered going to city hall once when he was much younger for a separate occasion. He looked over to see that Monika, of course, found the expansive place to be amazing, like everything else she had seen thus far. She gasped lightly as she was overwhelmed with such grandiose architecture.

"Marvelous." She whispered to herself. James sighed.

"Hm. I thought city hall would be a bit more busy than _this_." Carlos muttered.

The lobby, as he noted, was indeed not bustling, as would be expected of such a main municipal function. There were a couple secretaries, either speaking to attendants or sitting around bored. A couple other people walked from one place to another, some entering and exiting offices, others waiting around on the lounge chairs.

Monika leaned over to James, whispering in his ear.

"So, um, why does your city hall use such outdated computers?"

She pointed to the bulky computers seated on the secretaries' desks.

James was perplexed by her question. "Those aren't outdated. In fact, they look a bit newer from last time I came to city hall."

Monika looked at him with the expression of 'you're joking, right?' James was further confused by her face.

"Monika, I have no idea why you think those are outdated. I'm pretty sure those are the newest models released by Apple."

He didn't actually know that for sure, but he wanted to seem like he knew what he was talking about. In reality, he had only heard that Steve Jobs was a computer programmer on the rise.

Regardless, though, Monika laughed out loud at this.

"Ah, James, you had me going for a moment there."

By this time, James was getting pretty frustrated with Monika.

"What the hell's so funny?"

Monika was beginning to become concerned with how serious James looked.

"James, the most recently released popular product of Apple was the iPhone X."

At this point, James had no idea what Monika was talking about.

"What is an 'I-Phone X'?"

 _Wow,_ Monika thought to herself. _I didn't know he was this much of a rube._

She was about to respond when she had an epiphany.

She had noted the old-timey computers, but she also noticed, over the course of their journey, several other things.

The retro fashion that citizens wore.

The cars that looked so old-fashioned.

The xenophobic atmosphere against Easterners.

Monika looked back at James, alarm in her eyes.

"James, do you know what Twitter is?"  
"W-what?"

She hadn't even been paying attention to the date.

"Elon Musk? iPhones? Facebook?"

"Monika, what the hell are you spouting?"

Now, she was damn sure something was up.

"James, what year is it?"

"What-what-"

"Just tell me, James!"

"It's 1985. How do you not know this?"

Monika was shocked. Not so much in dread of what time period she was in, but definitely bewildered.

 _How did I end up in the past?_ She thought to herself. _Better yet, when did a war with every major Eastern country happen?_

As Monika had gone to access the internet during her time in the other world, she had gotten to learn a plethora of things from Earth. However, seeing as she had learned enough of the history of the US, she was sure they were never engaged in a real war with the big Eastern countries.

James looked at her with more concern than he usually had.

 _Does it really matter what time i'm in, though?_

"Hey! Let's get yer shit dealt with, guys." Keith yelled at them from the counter of one of the main secretary desks. The rest of the group was already with him.

 _Whatever_ , Monika thought dismissively. _All that matters is that i'm out of that hellhole._

She smiled at James. "Welp, let's get goin'." She said, lightly skipping to catch up with the group.

"Wait, why did you-" James was about to start, but eventually realized that there were already enough questions surrounding Monika to even bother with more. "Fuck it."

After all, he could always just ask her when they had the time for it.

* * *

"Mi _Dio_ , that took waaay too long."

Carlos was utterly exhausted after having to sit through the whole procession in the city hall. He first had to have his ID checked and renewed, which took a couple hours in of itself, on top of having to make a call down to one of the MD-UFAA military outposts about his condition, which took another two hours as they confirmed everything.

However, he was also relieved. He would be able to see his family again. He almost broke down crying again from hearing those news.

 _I'm gonna need to stop with this crying, or my rep as a Sergeant is going down the toilet,_ He thought idly.

As he hung up the phone on the secretary's desk, he looked over to see Monika burst out of the room, with James dragging his feet.

"Christ on a bike, why does this take so long _every, single, time._ " James groaned. As he recalled, when he first turned 18, he had to renew his citizen ID as well. It also took a painstaking amount of time, and this time was no different. It was even longer since Monika had to go through an extensive background check. Of course, she had to explain her 'situation' when the secretaries found an absence of any information on her whatsoever.

Unlike him, however, Monika was bouncing up and down, giggling with glee as she stared at her citizen ID card. James inwardly groaned. She had been so ecstatic about the whole process, packed with the spirit of a million immigrants becoming citizens. As a result, she had talked his ear off the _entire process_.

"Look, James, it's me!" She squealed as she tapped her face on the card rapidly.

In all honesty, it wasn't a bad photo. She smiled so naturally, she actually looked pretty cute in it. However, she had already shown it to James 5 times after she got the printout.

James suppressed the urge to grin as he noticed Monika's printed last name, _Robinson_. After hearing that she didn't have a last name, he recommended she use that one before she walked in for the ID process. He got the name from a famous show his father used to tell him about, _Lost In Space._

"Well, listen, we gotta go shopping for some...essentials."

Monika tilted her head in question.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we have to get you a wallet for that ID card, and better clothes than the spare ones I gave you. Food, water, all that shit."

Monika nodded.

"I didn't think about that." She sneaked a smile. "How astute of you, James."

James waved aside the sly acknowledgement. "We also got to decide a couple other things, like where we're gonna find a place to stay…" He hesitated before saying the next line. "...Whether we should join the UFAA or not."

And that, in of itself, was a big decision. Joining the UFAA would, if joined, be a risky and deadly endeavor, most likely long and arduous, and would continue to get even more gruesome as the war went on. Of course, even if James' sheer patriotism didn't stop him from wanting to quit, the UFAA had a culture of exiling deserters or those who 'pussied out' of fighting for their country. A brutal culture, sure, but it definitely resulted in more resilient and brave soldiers.

Monika shrugged his statements off. "We can do that later. For now…"

She swiftly moved in closer to James, sliding her hand down his chest slowly, to his discomfort.

"Why don't we…"

She leaned in, whispering into his ear.

"... _get comfortable here_."

James felt goosebumps pop up all over his body, and moved to separate himself from Monika's close grasp. He shook his head.

"Enough of this. Let's just get going."

Monika grinned lustfully at him as he turned around, prepared to head out the door. However, as he was about to exit the lobby, her heard someone call out for him.

"James!"

It was Carlos. James turned around to see him holding the phone.

"The General wants to speak with you."

James' face was one of disbelief.

"Which General? The general public?"

"Lieutenant General David Rodney."

* * *

As James drove the jeep towards Houston's HQ, his heart was pumping faster than a runaway train.

 _The fucking_ Lieutenant General _of the United States wants to meet_ me?! _What did I do to earn his attention?!_

Monika could see James openly sweating and muttering to himself and, without having any knowledge of anything, really, was confused as to why he was so nervous.

"What's wrong, James?"

James gave her a look of 'Are you serious?'

"I'm about to meet one of the most important people to the US right now! Me, a random schmuck raised on a farm!"

James then remembered that Monika was about as informed of current events as a mole rat in Siberia. He decided it would probably be best to brief Monika on who they were meeting, and what they were going to do next.

"Monika."

"Yes?"

"Basically, we are going to meet one of the five Regional Generals of the UFAA. Before you ask what they are, each one commands a region of the US. The Northeast, the Southeast, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West. General Rodney has command over the _entire_ Midwest region. Do you know how _important_ this guy is? And he wants to meet _me_ , of all people! That's the reason i'm nervous, Monika."

Monika was silent, feeling it was not necessary to respond. James felt prodded to warn her about the procedure when they got to the HQ.

"Monika, since you recently just got your citizen ID, I'm going to assume you won't be let in to see the General. And since this is one of the highest ranks in the UFAA, we're _both_ going to be going through some serious checks. Just tellin' you to be prepared, alright?"

As Monika heard his voice, she felt her heart warm at the sound of his concerned tone. She looked over and smiled at James.

"Oki-doki, James."

James, glancing over to see her smile, subconsciously smiled back, then realized what he was doing and shook his head. Her positive aura was starting to rub off on him. Monika was even more warmed by seeing his small smile.

 _A couple minutes later…_

As they arrived upon the base, James could clearly see the difference in the headquarters of the city from everything else.

Unlike the rest of the city, which was filled with commercial, business, and residential buildings alike, the set of buildings that were the collective HQ were separated from the rest of the buildings by a thick, concrete wall lined with barbed wire on top. Watch towers were evenly spaced behind the walls, with visible guards patrolling in those towers. Spotlights hung from under the watchtowers, turned on and sweeping the front of the HQ entrance as the storm grew thick and blocked the sunlight out.

The atmosphere of the place only served to maximize his tension and nervousness. An event from his middle school years, where he had to report to the principal's office, was reminiscent to this type of atmosphere. The only difference he could spot was that in this situation, he was called to the figure in question with what James thought was good intentions. Hopefully.

Eventually, he came to a rolling stop at the gate, seeing an armed guard yell at him from the other side of the metal gate. She had to speak over the gusting winds that were swishing across the yard.

"STATE YOUR FULL NAME AND REASON FOR BEING HERE!"

James shouted back to her,

"JAMES MCCARTHY, REQUESTED BY LIEUTENANT GENERAL DAVID RODNEY!"

The guard spoke into her radio and, after a couple moments, nodded as she seemingly heard a response on the other end. She motioned her hand to an unseen gate controller, and a couple seconds later the gate opened mechanically. James drove the jeep inside slowly, stopping after they were sufficiently in. As soon as he got out, the jeep was swarmed by HQ guards armed with rifles. Though they didn't point their weapons at him nor Monika, he got the creeping feeling that he was in a delicate situation.

A couple of the riflemen began to search the jeep and, upon seeing the boatload of ammunitions and guns in the back, flashed alarmed looks to the first guard. James inwardly screamed, realizing how bad that looked in this situation.

 _Shit shit shit shit SHIT!_

The first guard, who James could assume was the guard lead, indicated by the Staff Sergeant patch on her shoulder and helmet, in turn directed James' gaze to the portable armory with a pointed finger.

"What the fuck is this?"

James smiled nervously.

"That, uh….has an….explanation."

* * *

After an hour or two of lockup and intense interrogation, James was released into the lobby of the main HQ building, sighing as he thought back to the yelling he had received from the Staff Sergeant who had first detained him at the front. Luckily, with an explanation and a phone call to Sergeant Carlos, he had cleared up the situation.

That was an unfortunate experience that James did not want to ever repeat.

On the other hand, Monika had been held back from joining James in his meeting with the Lieutenant General as he expected, instead having to wait outside for his return.

And thus, James was left by himself.

 _Wonderful_ , James thought regretfully.

The lobby he was in was very busy, with uniformed officers, soldiers, and other figures of interest running to and fro around the complex, all addressing their own problems or tasks. Phones rang, secretaries directed people to offices, and chatter buzzed around the lobby. All of this, of course, only served to intimidate James.

He mustered the courage to walk up to the front desk secretary. However, before he could even speak to the secretary, he was interrupted by her.

"Hello Mr. McCarthy, the General is waiting for you on the second floor, double oak doors."

"Wh-what? How did you-"

He then looked down to see the plastic wallet clipped to his shirt, with the name 'James McCarthy' imprinted on it. He remembered that he was given this visitor pass before he was allowed into the lobby. Having solved that little question, he looked to one of the stairs leading to the second floor and headed upwards.

Once he arrived in front of the double doors, he saw a name plate next to the doors.

 _David Rodney, Lieutenant General of the UFAA_

Gulp.

Before he could have any panic attack, he grabbed the door handle, pushing it down and opening the door. It swung open, and James-

"Jesus Christ!"

James slightly jumped as he was immediately confronted with a somewhat-young looking man in a polo shirt, denim jeans, and white sneakers. He didn't look to be old, rather in his late 30s. He had slicked-back hair and brown eyes. James, understandably, was bamboozled by this man's casual appearance, in contrast to the military environment surrounding the place.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you, sir, but i'm looking for Lieutenant General David Rod-"

"Oh that's me. James, I assume?"

James, disbelieving of the man at first, tilted slightly to his right to inspect the room for any other individuals. He found none to be present besides the laid-back man in front of him.

"You...are the...Lieutenant General?"

The man smiled, understanding what was causing the confusion.

"Yeah, I know. Many strangers thought the same thing. Casual outfit, young looks, easy-going demeanor. I don't exactly give off the impression of a military official. Well, I am. Nice to meet you, James. David Rodney, Lieutenant General of the UFAA."

He offered his hand to shake. James shook it, still befuddled by the situation. He noticed that, behind the man, the room was quite huge, indicated by the massive, detailed map of the United States imprinted onto the floor. He could also see a ton of marks and lines on various parts of the US, which he assumed were battle plans.

"Let's go have a seat, shall we?"

He gestured to the desk that was across the map. James was about to begin his walk across the map when Rodney stopped him.

"Ah, let's go around the map. I'd prefer not to potentially ruin the planning I've put on that map."

James nodded, chuckling nervously before walking around, in which he took a bit of time surveying the room some more.

At another glance, the room was hardly decorated, instead more focused on efficiency and utility. Charts, lists, and other documents were taped or stapled to boards that lined the walls on either side of the room. Half a dozen filing cabinets were stacked next to each other from the far right end of the room to edge of the rectangular window that loomed behind Rodney's desks.

"Really gettin' an eyeful, huh?"

James shook his head, realizing that he had been staring at the room rather rudely. He scurried to the desk. As he arrived at it, he picked one of the two comfy-looking chairs in front of Rodney, who was already seated and lounging on his own chair.

As James sat there, subconsciously tapping his foot rapidly, keeping his hands clasped, and his head forward, he was still trying to wrap his head around this guy.

 _This guy is a general?_ James thought to himself.

"If you're wondering about the clothes, James, it's because I focus better on strategy and tactical planning when i'm not in a stuffy suit. I think that would go for most people, don't ya think, James?"

James nodded his head. Though half of the motivation for that nod was out of deep respect for the high-ranker, it was also because the statement made sense. Now that he thought about it, he wondered how those other guys in military uniforms could do anything productive in such uniforms for so long.

"Anyways, when I was talking to Carlos about his long absence from post and his thought-to-be death, he talked quite a bit about you and this girlfriend of yours."

 _Girlfriend?..._

Realizing he was referring to Monika, James' cheeks reddened at the notion and he chuckled in embarrassment.

"Uh, heh heh, eh, she's, uh, not my-uh, girlfriend….sir."

Rodney chuckled lightly as he grinned.

"Sure she ain't, bud."

"Can we, uh, continue where you left off, please?"

Rodney exhaled loudly, leaning back in his chair as he placed his hands behind his head.

"Whatever you say, James. Anyways, he told me that you and the girlfr- _friend that happens to be female_ went through quite the endeavor together."

His eyes took on a sad light as he dropped his casual demeanor for a moment.

"And...he told me that you came from Galveston, and what happened there recently."

As the memory of the incident was brought back to the forefront of James' mind, he felt both sorrowful and irritated by Rodney bringing it back up.

"For what it's worth, James, I hope you know that you did some good bringing back the news of that. As you know, every second matters in war, and in this case, you saved us a lot of seconds that the Sebbies could have used to make plans without our notice."

"...Thanks."

Rodney felt his chest tighten slightly at hearing the dejected acknowledgement from the young man before him. He was sure that seeing the town you had lived in your entire life pillaged in such a fashion was surely traumatic, and he wouldn't be surprised if the man held some serious vengeance. However, that was not healthy behavior, and he decided he should give the man some distraction from the mess of war for a bit.

"Listen…"

Rodney leaned in, planting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands as he prepared to deliver his next statement. James was put off by the man's sudden switch in tone, but naturally leaned in slightly, ready to hear what he was about to say.

"I've got a rather... _crucial_ message that needs to be delivered to a certain Colonel Matthew in New York."

He moved to open a drawer in the desk, taking out a letter with a seal on it. He laid it on the desk between the two. James took a quick glance at the note. He was a bit disappointed that the note wasn't especially decorated or important-looking, instead looking like the same notes James wrote to his grandmother on her birthday.

"This message-" Rodney tapped the letter. "-contains _very_ vital information. I want you and your friend to go and deliver this message to Colonel Matthew of the 441st Infantry Regiment in Albany, New York. In fact, just in case they need extra proof of this, I put my signature-" He pointed to a spot on the back of the letter, which had Rodney's signature. "-On the letter."

James nodded as Rodney briefed him on this. He was emboldened and extremely excited to be carrying out a task for a Lieutenant General. Rodney slid the letter across the surface of the desk to James, who picked up the letter, looking at it in awe.

"That's what I need you to do. Can you carry out this task, James?"

James nodded his head rapidly as he held the letter in his hands.

"Good! Then a couple tips: There are plenty, and I mean _plenty_ , of roadside places which I would happily recommend you stop at. Shops, restaurants, and maybe even a spa. Though these messages are important, it's not necessarily time-critical. Really, they're more just statistics and such. So please, take your time getting to New York."

James, though a bit confused as to the lack of time restraints by this task, was nonetheless grateful for this opportunity.

"Well then, with that said, James, I suggest you get going so you can fulfill this task!"

James lurched up from his seat, saluting the man as he smiled widely.

"I won't let you down, sir!"

"Fantastic! Then get goin', son!"

James nodded once more, then headed out of the room, closing the door behind him. Rodney sighed, leaning back in his chair. The chair rotated until Rodney was facing the window, looking out at the courtyard of the compound.

"What an energetic young man."

…

…

…

"Bit of a rube, though."

* * *

 _An hour later…_

James was looking over the jeep with Monika outside of the compound.

"So, we're just making sure they didn't make any scratches on the thing, right?"

"Yep."

Rodney allowed James to keep the jeep for his journey, seeing it as futile to retrieve it for reuse anyways. This made James very happy, as he was afraid they would reacquisition the jeep from his stead. He really liked that jeep.

As they continued to inspect the jeep, Carlos came around the corner, walking towards James.

"Ey, James."

James looked up to see him and smiled, waving at him.  
"Hey, Sergeant! How goes?"

Carlos smiled back, bringing one hand up to wave slightly before lowering it. He finally got up close enough to speak to James without having to yell over the still-gusting wind.

"So, James…"

James ceased his inspection momentarily to listen to Carlos.

"I just wanted to...thank you. You've not only saved my life, but allowed me to see my family again. On top of that, you've saved the lives of the others you've brought with you. That old man, that little girl. They're going to be staying here for a bit, but they wanted me to give you their deep gratitude for what you've done."

James was slightly taken aback by Carlos' sincere words. Once again, he wasn't used to a much older adult expressing such emotion. He shuffled awkwardly.

"Well, uh, i'm sure anyone would have done what I did in the same situation."

Carlos smiled again at the humble statement.

"I'm going to be heading back to Mexico to see my family. I'm glad to have met someone as kind-hearted and courageous as you, James. As well as you, Monika."

He looked back at Monika, who gave a small smile to him. She didn't really care much for his goodbye, but she felt she would be lectured by James again if she didn't express some sort of sympathy.

"Goodbye."

And with that, Carlos left, turning around and heading back into the compound. Monika noticed James sniffle as he rubbed his eyes with his forearm. She felt her chest tighten to see James in such an emotional state.

However, he quickly sobered up his weeping, exhaling as he got into the jeep.

"Let's get going."

* * *

As the jeep headed down the highway into the horizon, James briefed Monika on the task that had been laid before them. She nodded, excited that she would be able to experience a new adventure.

"And one other thing. Hold the wheel for a second." He glided Monika's hands over to the steering wheel of the jeep. "Hold that still."

As she did so, he bent over in his seat, reaching down to unlock a hidden compartment under the floor of the jeep. He brought the cover up and put his hands back on the wheel, but pointed down at the item in the compartment.

"Monika, look."

She looked down and ogled at the rocket launcher that was stashed within the compartment.

"Wow!...What is it?"

James stared at her as if she had said something offensive.  
" _What is it?_ It's a fuckin' rocket launcher, is what it is!"

Monika nodded slowly, realizing she had asked the question too early. She realized it to be-

"An AT-4."

"It's an AT- wait how did you know that?"

Monika shrugged. James was a little irked he didn't get to introduce the cool-ass weapon, but he decided he might as well just close it for now.

"Were you allowed to keep that?"

James gave a sly smile.

"Eheheheheheeee….no. But, uh, I think we would have a better use for this than they will. They have, like, a billion of those things."

 _I wonder what happened to all that patriotism talk before,_ Monika thought ironically.

"Anyways, our next stop is Albany, New York. Get ready to see the land of the Yankees."

* * *

 **Upcoming:** Chapter 7 - The Trip

 **Author Notes: For all of you who have been reading my story so far. I would like to thank you. Soon enough, there will be participation from the audience in the form of picking names for certain expendable characters, so you can look forward to that bit when the time comes.**

 **Aside from that, I would like to inform all of you reading that the next chapter will take a few weeks before being published. It will be my first 'long' chapter, and will be over 10,000 words. Yep. 10,000. So with that said, I hope that you don't have the attention span of a squirrel on crack and abandon my reading, if you enjoyed it.**

 **With that said, thank you once again to all who read and/or enjoy my stories. If you would like to check out other stories I am currently writing, you can click on my profile to see. Currently, I am writing:**

 **- Doki Doki: Worlds Collide (Medieval Fantasy with all the DDLC characters ; Massive world that is intricately detailed)**

 **- Steampunk Falls: Victorian Ventures (Alternate universe where Dipper and Mabel from Gravity Falls live in a Victorian-era world where steampunk inventions are on the rise, and they must establish their domain and territory whilst also collecting information to find out who attacked their village. Contains brutal fights, and is similar to Assassin's Creed: Syndicate with gangs and such)**


	7. The Trip

**_IMPORTANT!_**

 _In a few chapters, I will be instituting user-created characters into the UFAA as recruits for a special chapter. That means that I want you people reading this to create characters for the story. There will be a number of slots that will be filled, so make sure that your character has a decent background, name, and traits (also a nickname that suits their traits). The background can be however long you want it, but it needs to be accurate to the world (can be from any country), and should at least note how they joined the UFAA as recruits._

 _WARNING! Some or most of these characters could possibly be killed off. This IS war, after all. Depending on how well-built your character is, they might survive longer down the line. No guarantees, though._

 _The nickname doesn't have to be something like 'Ghost' or whatever. It can also be an abbreviation of a name (i.e. Alexander is instead 'Alex')_

 _Here is the template:_

* * *

 **Character Name (First & Last):**

 **Background:**

 **Traits:**

* * *

 _For the rest of you, enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Trip**

Already, James was tired as hell.

The trip had lasted around 2 hours so far, and yet James had only seen the same boring landscape that they had passed for so long.

He had gone through about 40 songs now, currently set on 'Take Me Home, Country Roads', which was now blaring through the radio.

Even better, Monika has been dancing in her seat to every single song since the road trip started. James was starting to worry about her mental state at this point.

On the thought of Monika…

For the first part of their long drive, James had gone through the task of bombarding Monika with every single question relating to her beginnings, what she knew, and her supposed story she gave him. By the end of it, the only thing James could come to a conclusion on was that Monika only invited more questions than answers with her responses. She seemed extremely well-versed on almost every subject he happened to move to. History, world events, entertainment, literature. Especially literature. When James had broached the topic of how she had come to learn English, she dived into a deep analysis on the English dialect, vocabulary, and techniques to grasp the language more easily. The analysis was so complex and confusing that James had to stop her 10 seconds into the rant.

To an unsophisticated, near-simpleton like James, all of this information only served to confuse his trust in Monika. However, despite her still-mysterious nature, he was grateful to be with her.

"...Almost heaven, West Virginiaaaa, blue ridge mountain, Shenandoah river..."

Definitely not now, though, that was for sure.

Oddly enough, she also caught on to the lyrics of every single song within a few seconds, which made the road trip even more agonizing for James as he had to listen to her jam for over-

"2 FUCKING HOURS NOW!" James exclaimed at Monika, who had stopped her singing to look quizzically at James.

"What?"

"You've been singing for over 2 damn hours now, Monika. Do your vocal cords not get tired?"

Monika shrugged, giving James a pure smile.

"I just haven't been able to express myself ever before, so I want to overcompensate."

James sighed. Now that she explained it in such a heartfelt manner, he couldn't just tell her to hush then.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No- it's...it's fine. Go ahead-"

"COUNTRY ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAADDDDSSSSSS, TAKE ME HOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMEEEEE, TO THE PLAAAAAAAAACCCCEEE, I BELOOOOOONNGGG-"

* * *

 _Oh thank God, refuge_ , James thought in relief, pulling the car over at a gas station alongside the road. He was 2 seconds away from blowing his brains out if he had to listen to Monika sing her damn heart out any more. Plus, he had seen his tank near empty around 10 minutes ago, and the worst thing that could happen in such a world without mercy would be to get stranded in the middle of nowhere. In Texas, of all places.

Before he had left Houston, one of Rodney's associates had marked down places in Texas that James could visit, be it for necessity or luxury. However, seeing his goal as the first priority, he told himself he would avoid the places of luxury in order to further accomplish his task. That is, if he could.

The place was, unsurprisingly, almost empty. Maybe because it was nighttime, probably because of the time they were living in. Either way, it was fortunate for James that the horrid weather had passed, or he would have been driving hours in the jeep soaked.

James pulled up at the gas station, steering the jeep until it was alongside one of the fuel pumps. He turned the key in the ignition, turning off the engine. The jeep's humming stopped, and he opened his side door, stepping out onto the concrete below.

He turned to his left, seeing the windows of the small convenience store lit up. Since this was a full-service station, as all stations were nowadays, all he needed to do was pay the clerk.

Digging his wallet out of his pocket, he searched through it to find the spare money Rodney's friend had given him. He was put off by the wad of bills he pulled out.

 _Five hundred dollars?! What the hell?_

He had no idea why he was given so much money, but it would definitely be enough for whatever he wanted! New clothes, guns, food-

 _Wait wait wait, NO!_

James chided himself for letting his greed lead his thought astray.

I'm on an important mission, damn it!

Shoving the bills back in his wallet, he went to go enter the convenience store.

Meanwhile, Monika got out of the car and wandered around the gas station area. It was almost barren of life, save for a single military jeep on the other side of the gas station, having their tank filled.

 _Well, I guess when the vast majority of the civilian population moves West, you won't be seeing too many of them much anywhere else_ , She thought.

She looked back and through the window of the gas station, seeing James talking to the clerk.

 _It might be a bit before he finishes there_ , Monika thought. I'll go stargaze for now.

Turning back, she drifted over to where the concrete of the gas station floor and the dirt road met, sitting down and looking up at the stars. She was dazzled by just how many were in the sky.

 _Well_ , she thought. _This era is before pollution_ really _set in, so it's no surprise that the skies are more clear than before._

As she sat there, her hands clasped around her legs as her eyes marveled at the great collection of stars above, her mind began to wander, touching on a variety of different things.

Instantly, her mind came up with a plethora of topics she had gathered from her time in the other world as well as what she had experienced in the current one. The most prominent thought in her head was of how she had managed to end up not in the modern timeline of Earth, but an alternate timeline in the 1980s.

 _There must have been something in this timeline that enabled my passage to this world, but what?_

During the beginning of their long drive, James had taken that time to thoroughly question Monika on her origins. In that time, Monika noted how, as she was escaping from the underground, all around her were computers, contraptions, cables and wires, and a lot of other things that hinted that the place was formerly a laboratory of some kind. That made it obvious that she had somehow become tied to experimentation, but it didn't explain what had caused her to bond with this body, nor why the body she was in looked just like her previous one in the other world.

During the conversation, James had mentioned how a violent storm had launched lightning strikes that hit the ground all around him when he was hanging around in the area. One thought had popped into Monika's mind when he said that, but she almost instantly dismissed it as ridiculous.

The notion that a lightning strike activated the body she was in, Frankenstein-style…

She shook her head, chuckling slightly.

 _What a stupid thought._

"Monika! Hey, Monika!"

Monika turned her head around, seeing James half-run towards her, wearing a giddy expression on his face as he held his wallet in his right hand and waved at her with his left. She got up and walked over to approach him as he giggled in glee.

"I got a super good deal on gas, Monika!"

His tone of voice immediately sent off alarms in Monika's head. He sounded just like a person who got screwed out of their cash because of their naivete. On top of that, she knew that gas prices were not bargained. In fact, they were _literally posted on a giant sign next to the gas station_.

It was moments like these where Monika, despite her love for James, was concerned for his situational awareness, possibly even his intelligence.

"James, gas prices aren't supposed to be negotiable."

James' smile melted right off his face. Monika pointed to the sign that showed gas prices, James turning his head to look.

"W-well, no…" He seemed to regain his confidence as he remembered something. "Well, he told me that since the war started, gas prices were gonna have to be bargained since they were a lot more costly now."

Monika was absolutely befuddled by that reasoning.

"What kind of stupid- er, ridiculous reason is that?! If that was the case, they would just raise the price per gallon!" Monika was beginning to adopt some of James' colloquial language.

James, on the other hand, was beginning to sweat as he slowly began to realize he had just gotten ripped off.

"Well…"

Monika felt a dreadful sensation as she broached the next question.

"How much did he charge you per gallon?"

From the short time she had talked to James, she went through her database-like memory, sifting through the average gas prices in the 1980s. She had to accommodate for the significant increase in price due to the war, as gas would most definitely be a costly commodity. Right now, she saw it to be around $3.80 a gallon, quite costly but reasonable for citizens in this day and age-

"Like, $7 a gallon."

"WHAT?!"

* * *

After a stern lecture on swindlers and spending, as well as the fact that James spent more than half of their budget on gas, she then asked for the envelope they were tasked to carry, which James reluctantly handed over. He watched her gracefully walk over and enter the gas station again.

Over the course of 5 minutes, James could hear intense arguing on the side of Monika, coupled with the occasional slam of her hand on the counter. After a few more moments, the conversation was inaudible at James' hearing range, and a few more moments after that the bell of the store rang, Monika walking out as gracefully as she had walked in. As she came up to James, she opened one of her hands to reveal a wad of bills. James was taken aback.

"How did you get so much money?"

Monika smirked.

"The guy was a swindler, he saw someone as young as you and thought he could get more money from you than was bargained. A little threat of reporting him to the UFAA got us a refund and then some."

James nodded his head, amazed by Monika's ability of assessment. Over the course of their journey, He had found out more and more about her personality and skills. She was exemplary at analyzing things, assessing the situation, and (though this was really only a positive for her and him) manipulation. Her personality, though…

"So are we gonna get going now, James?"

James shook his head, realizing he was dazing off. He glanced over at Monika, who was smiling at him from in the passenger's seat of the jeep. In her lap was a giant, unopened bag of Doritos.

"I thought i'd take the liberty to get us some snacks for the road. I'm starving."  
James nodded. He chided himself for not thinking about that. For some reason, though, his hunger had not been much of a bother as before. He also felt more distracted and tired than before. Unbeknownst to him, Monika had also observed these recent behaviors. She had seen plenty of it before in a past acquaintance…

She hoped he didn't have the same...affliction as her past acquaintance.

 _Enough complaining_ , he thought. _Let's get some gas and go. Ooh, that was some cool alliteration._

As he went to go refuel the jeep, Monika popped open the bag. She took out a single Dorito and chomped down on it. The flavor of the chip, being one of the few times she had gotten to experience food, was absolutely astonishing. Once again, an experience reminded her that this wasn't a dream, that she was out of that hellhole. Tears began to streak down her face as she cherished the moment.

James, who was filling the jeep with gas, noticed Monika's behavior. Once again, he was weirded out by her strange behavior.

 _She must've been in a real hellhole in her younger years..._

Finishing his task of filling the jeep up and putting on the gas cap, he went around the vehicle and got in the driver's seat. He put the key in the ignition, turning it until the jeep started up, the engine revving.

"By the way, how did you fill up this jeep before you met me?" Monika interposed.

"Well…" James was at first hesitant to answer. "I...took gas from other vehicles."

"You siphoned gas into your own?"

"Yeah…"

Monika shrugged. She couldn't care less what James did in his past. After all, she wasn't one to talk...

"Alright well, enough jabber, let's get movin'."

* * *

2 more hours into the drive. For the first 30 minutes of it, Monika had been daintily eating from the Dorito bag, occasionally remarking on how great it was. Then for the rest of the time he spent it having philosophical talks with Monika, to which she had some very knowledgeable things to say. However, it was near the end of the drive when James began to lose focus on the conversation, to the point where now Monika was just talking his ear off on dozens of subjects.

 _Rumble, rumble._

James instinctively put one hand to his stomach, which protested for food. It had been quite a while, but now that time had gone on a bit longer, James found himself to be starving.

"Let's find somewhere to eat." He said, glancing over at Monika. She nodded enthusiastically to that idea.

After around 5 minutes, they pulled over at a diner. James looked up at the sign, lit up with neon lights lining the rims.

 ** _Lum's_**

"Let's stop here." James stated, pulling up at the closest parking space. He turned the key, the hum of the jeep's engine ceasing half a second after. The chirping of crickets could be heard shortly after, accompanied with the faint sound of bustling customers in the restaurant. James was surprised there were customers this late, and he could assume that since the vast majority of people traveling around the country were UFAA soldiers nowadays, there must be a lot of business for places like this.

He opened the jeep door, stepping out onto the concrete below. Monika followed suit, admiring the humble architecture yet alluring prospect of food that the restaurant gave off. It was a one-story, rectangular establishment with a set of double doors accompanied by wide windows spanning in either direction on either side. From inside, she saw uniformed soldiers conversing, laughing, crying (?), and enjoying themselves as they ate.

As they got close to the doors, James saw an opportunity to gentleman the shit out of the situation. He reached forward to grab the handle of one of the double doors, then pulled back, beckoning for Monika to go through with a beaming smile.

"Thanks, bud!"

Before James could react, a whole squad of UFAA soldiers walked through the opening. James saw Monika open the other side of the double doors and walk through.

 _Seriously?_ James thought.

Apparently, the concept of chivalry was a foreign one to her. Of course, James didn't want to say that out loud.

As Monika looked around the interior, she found the environment to be homely. The combination of dimmed lights, wide window panels, and red-leather booths really gave off a retro feeling to her. To her, it was indescribably beautiful to see in reality.

That was another thing to her. Ever since she had manifested into reality, the entirety of what she had encountered, seen, and experienced was like every possible dream come true. The very fact that she was living and breathing was already heavenly, but stacked on top of the other things she had gotten to experience so far, she was put in an almost constant state of euphoria. In this case, she was actually 'high on life'.

Before she could go exploring around, she felt a hand on her shoulder softly tug her back.

"Monika, what're you doing? The waitress will seat us."

Monika looked back to see the waiter, a young, nervous-looking teenager with particularly striking red hair in locks, holding a small stack of menus against her chest.

"Oh...oh yeah!" She laughed after that stumble, hoping she didn't embarrass herself in front of James.

"A-alright, well, uh…come with me." The waitress gestured, leading them to one of the booths by the window overlooking the parking lot.

James sat on one side, expecting Monika to sit on the other side. However, she scooted in alongside James, which alarmed him.

 _How oblivious is she to basic social mannerisms?_

"Wh-why don't you sit across from me, Monika?"

"Oh. Right."

As she moved over to the other seat, James had to consider if Monika was simply oblivious to everything on the subject of basic human interaction and behavior.

The same waitress that brought them to their seats handed them the menus with shaky hands. It was clear to James that she was pretty new to this, so he gave her a smile as he took a menu from her hands. She smiled back.

 _I'll fucking gut you alive, bitch_ , Monika thought in rage.

Monika took a menu from the waitress too, smiling as well.

"Nice to, uh, meet you two. My name is Wendy. I'll be your waitress for tonight."

"Thank you. We'll be ready to order in 5." James said.

The waitress nodded, running off.

James looked back at Monika, who was reading the menu with a confused expression.

"What?" James inquired.

"I don't know what half of these are…"

Though she had access to the Internet in the other world, she had never looked up food items often. It was torture to have to imagine what the food that she thought she could never taste was like.

At least, until now.

"Here, why don't you start off with...a hot dog, huh? You can expand your palate after that if you're still hungry." James stated. He wasn't sure what horrors Monika went through before he met her for her to not know what a hot dog was.  
Monika was ecstatic to finally be able to eat from an authentic restaurant (essentially everything was authentic to her compared to where she came from), but she wasn't sure if it was wise to use a good portion of their money when they weren't that far into the trip. Based on her estimations, they would need to use some serious fiscal conservatism in order to use the utilities around the country, if they planned on travelling by themselves on the long-term.

But who knows, this could be the last time before she got to eat like this for quite a long time...

"Yeah. I'll start on the hot-dog first."

"Sounds good."

James took a short look at the menu, making a face as he decided on his own lunch.

"Hm."

He closed the menu, deciding on what to get. However, Monika wasn't satisfied with his lack of answer.

"So, what did you get?"

James was a bit off-put by her abruptness, but eventually gave in.

"The, uh, Submarine. It's, uh, an Italian sandwich-type thing."

Monika smiled.

"Interesting. I heard that has a lot of calories."

"How the hell do you know about calories, but not fuckin' hot dogs?"

"Touché."

A couple minutes later, the waitress came back and took their orders, running off once again. James noticed the cute manner in which she hurried away. Monika noticed where he was looking. Inwardly, she was wishing death upon the waitress. Of course, she couldn't let James know about that side of her.

"So…" Monika began. She wanted to learn more about James, but she wasn't sure where to start. She hadn't really learned how to properly converse about anything besides...ugh…

James decided to take the initiative.

"Where ya from, Monika?"

 _Uh oh..._

That was not exactly the first question she wanted. However, she had been prepared to answer that, after choosing from a number of locations she had taken the time to study from some world maps at Houston. It had to be a far-off country that James wouldn't likely know about.

"Belarus. It's in the Middle East."

"The Middle East? Aren't they all, like, dark-skinned over there?"

Monika laughed.

"No. There's a mix of light-skinned and dark-skinned people over there."

She didn't actually know that for sure herself, but she had to go along with her story as much as possible if she was gonna get by without telling him about her past.

It seemed to have work, as James was nodding his head. Something then seemed to have disturbed him, and he pointed to Monika's hair.

"By the way, why are you wearing that big-ass bowtie? I didn't take much notice before, but I can't believe "

"Oh…"

She should've known that would be out of place. Now that she thought about it, all of those strange expressions from strangers made sense now.

 _I need an excuse!_

She took a breath.

"Back in Belarus… when I was a child, I found this ribbon at the outskirts of town. This one." She pointed to the bowtie on her head.

"My head was too small at the time for a bowtie, so I wore it like a bandana. When I was around 15, in the middle of the war, a large group of people I was with tried to immigrate to the US. A lot of them...didn't make it."

She looked down, faking a wistful expression. James was silent, empathizing for her.

"I see…"

After she felt he was fully immersed in her emotional charade, she raised her head, looking at James.

"For those 3 years, I had to survive in the US when it was at war, avoiding people in fear that they would see me as a foreign enemy and kill me. I had to survive off of scraps and other things. It wasn't exactly the best experience, but it was better than living in the war-ridden wasteland of Belarus."

As she went on about her background, James nodded his head, believing every bit of what she was saying. Had it not been for her depravity, she would have most assuredly felt crushing guilt about lying to her love. However, she felt it was necessary that she keep her past hidden as much as possible. If he found out about it, that could potentially lead to him finding out about the atrocities she had committed, and if he knew that, he would surely be disgusted by her. She couldn't bear that.

Oddly enough, unlike the other times she had faked her emotions, it was extremely hard to express anything but an intense euphoric happiness at all times since she entered this world. That wasn't surprising, as her deepest wishes had been granted to her. It was everything she had dreamed of and more.

James leaned back, a little taken aback by her story. In comparison, he didn't have too much to offer in terms of background.

"Well, I don't think I can top that. But I guess i'll tell you about my life."

As he took a breath, he was surprised to see Monika leaning in, placing her elbows on the tables, her hands against her cheeks, her eyes sparkling with eagerness to listen.

"Uh...well, I was born and raised in Galveston-" James' voice broke a bit when he touched on the subject of his home. "My parents looked over me for my, uh, entire life. My dad taught me how to use a rifle, my mother on how to take care of myself with cooking, cleaning, and some other skills so I could be self-reliant."

James' eyes glanced out the window as he looked over the landscape, seemingly pondering something.

"I rarely got any chances to go outside of Texas, especially since our family wasn't usually wealthy enough to travel a lot. My parents put most of their earnings into sending me to college. In fact, it was last year...that I was supposed to...go."

As he got closer to more recent events in past years, it became harder to talk as he reflected on all that he had lost. His family. His future. Everything from the past world had been yanked from under him since the war had began.

Since the historians, top generals, and most of the US populace predicted this war to be the one that leads to near human extinction, James had a crushing feeling that he had gotten thrown into a new, chaotic, merciless world of death and destruction. Had his family been lucky to pass on, leaving him to deal with this terrible mess?

 _That's pretty morbid_ , James thought, realizing he was brooding.

"Here you go."

Just as the conversation came to a convenient stop, the waitress had come back, delivering their respective foods. As her hand laid Monika's plate of food in front of her, Monika felt a strong urge to stab her hand with the cutlery laid out on the table. She quickly suppressed it.

Once the waitress left, James began to dig into his sandwich, not giving a moment's hesitation, leaving Monika to look at her hot dog. It was pretty simple, yet the way the colors contrasted each other made it look, along with the smell, made it tantalizing.

"What're you waitin' for, Monika? We gotta get going. Eat up."

Monika nodded. She picked up the hot dog with one hand, and began to eat.

* * *

Having finished the meal, Monika began to head towards the entrance. James stayed behind for a couple moments, Monika noticed, to strike up a short conversation with their waitress. After a few moments, James waved goodbye to her, then headed out the door to accompany her.

As the two made their way to the car, Monika began to think about the waitress, and in a fit of anger and jealousy, decided to pose a question for James, who was whistling a tune unbeknownst to her.

"James, what did you think about that waitress?"

James stopped his whistling and looked over at her. His eyes flickered upwards for a moment as he contemplated the question. After a few seconds, he answered.

"I think she was, uh, nice, you know?"

"Did you think she was...interesting?"

James, being naive to the atmosphere, commented honestly.

"Well, before we left, she told me a little bit about how her father went off to war on the East Coast of the US a couple years back. She was waiting until she was of age to join. Besides that, I thought she was cute."

He looked over and was a bit creeped out by her gleaming smile.

"Interesting. Hey, I got to go use the restroom, i'll be back James."

"Oh. Okay."

He watched her gracefully walk back to the restaurant and disappear past the double doors. Now that James had thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time she had to use the restroom since Houston.

Meanwhile, Monika came up to the host, delivering a glowing smile.

"Hello, sir. Is Wendy still here?"

"Wendy? Yeah, I believe she's got about 30 more minutes to-"

"Wonderful, could you tell her that her father has mail for her, and she can come around the back to collect it."

The host's face smiled happily.

"Really? That's wonderful news! I've heard she's been looking forward to that for weeks now! Alright sure, i'll tell her as soon as she gets back to the front."

Monika nodded, keeping her smile, then swiftly moved across the restaurant, heading towards the back. As she passed by a recently used table, she subtly grabbed a metal fork sitting on it and slipped it into her pocket.

* * *

"Man, what's taking her so long?"

It had been around 10 minutes now. Even though they had eaten quite a bit (which was a bit of a hit to their budget), he didn't think it would take this long, even for a number two.

Finally, he saw her walk out from the side of the building, which was a bit odd, but he was just glad she came out.  
"Alright, let's get going."

Monika seemed to be in a much better mood since she came back out.

Must've been a big one, huh?

James was about to ask this question sardonically when he caught himself. He realized how crude that would sound to a girl. He had forgotten that he wasn't around friends.

As they got into the car, James noticed a couple of small stains on Monika's hand.

"What's that, Monika? It kinda looks like blood."

Monika looked down at what he was commenting on and chuckled slightly.

"Oh, yeah. Must be ketchup, I spilled a little when I put some on my hot dog."

She made a little show of licking it off her hand, then looked up and smiled at James.

Ooo-kaaay….

James was a little weirded out by that, but he was starting to get used to how odd Monika was.

"Welp, time to hit the road once more."

* * *

"God Almighty, If I have to spend one more second in this jeep…"

Over the course of eight hours, the two had taken continuous pit stops, whether it be to eat, take restroom breaks, or for some other minor venture. Thankfully, they had escaped the raining after a half hour of driving upstate, however James had a new problem at hand. At this point in the journey, James was beginning to grow bored of the drill. It was after the 8th hour had passed that he had come up with an idea.

"Monika-"

"Yes?"

He hadn't even been able to get out her name when she leaned in, intent to hear what he had to say. Having been fatigued from the constant driving, he was very much startled by her abruptness.

"Hoh, holy shit! Don't scare me like that."

"Apologies."

She didn't seem apologetic.

"Anyways...at our next stop, i'm gonna teach you how to drive."

"REALLY?"

Monika reacted ecstatically, clapping her hands as she squealed in delight. This unexpected reaction freaked James out.

"Holy shit, calm down! I've never seen someone feel that powerfully about driving."

"I just...haven't ever gotten the chance to learn. That's all."

"O-okay...well, as I said before, we'll do it at the next sto-"

"What is that flashy building?"

James looked over to where Monika was pointing to see a distinguished building among others. James hadn't noticed it, but they had started entering a local town. The building Monika was pointing at, however, stood out from the other buildings like a sore thumb, with the flashing neon sign and bright lights.

 **The Grind**

"Eeewww." James commented, finding the club's name to be rather crude.

"What?" Monika asked, seemingly oblivious to the club name's hidden meaning.

"It's nothing…"

James then noticed that the club had an extensive parking lot, perfect for practicing driving. It seemed that the placement of the club was intentional, since they were at the outskirts of the club.

Must be to attract UFAA, James thought. UFAA Patrols were the main commercial of places like this nowadays, since a large portion of the US population was enlisted.

"Here's good."

He found a suitable place to park, then turned off the engine. He then looked over at Monika, who was now glancing over the controls in the seat.

"Alright, it's time to teach you how to drive."

* * *

James had been severely upsetted (to put the term lightly) by the driving session. After teaching her about the controls and such, James made the horrid mistake of handing the wheel over to Monika. For some odd reason, when James asked her to do something, such as stepping on the gas pedal, she would take it as 'push it to the maximum', and floored the pedal, sending them flying across the parking lot before James' screams of desperation to take her foot off reached her ears, and they skidded to a stop, just short of a serious car crash.

Of course, only after a couple of minutes of horrid driving did Monika get the hang of it very quickly. In fact, it took only about 10 minutes after that before she became extremely proficient. She even learned tricks that James wasn't aware of. Still, it wasn't enjoyable on his end of the spectrum.

 _At least now, I can let loose now that we're at a club…_

As the two walked through the double doors, James took in the environment. The place was somewhat packed, and as James had predicted earlier, the vast majority of occupants sported UFAA uniforms to confirm it. At this time of night, it was clear they had more than their fair share of alcohol, indicated by their...behavior. Some of them were enjoying themselves at the karaoke machine, others sung army cadences, and the rest just enjoyed themselves in their own unique fashion.

"Well, ain't this a lively place." James commented. "How about we go get some beer-"

He was cut off by the subtle squealing of Monika, who was slightly hopping up and down and shaking her balled fists in front of her in excitement. Once again, as if this was becoming a recurring routine, James was taken aback by her behavior.

However, he was too tired to question it, so he decided to just tap her shoulder.

"Hey."

Monika halted her hopping.

"Yes?"

"I'm gonna go get a beer from the bar. You can go...uh...do whatever isn't illegal."

With that, James sidled over to the bar and slid onto one of the bar stools, talking to the bartender.

Monika wasn't sure what to do. She felt an overwhelming urge to sit alongside James, but then thought that would just annoy him.

 _Maybe I should get to know the other patrons_ , she thought.

And with that, it was decided. To be honest with herself, she hadn't been very outgoing with others since she had come into this world. It wasn't that she didn't want to be, but considering how cagey and on-guard everyone was, coupled with the fearful idea that she would be suspected of being a foreigner, it just wasn't a tasteful idea most of the time. She went to join the closest group of soldiers, taking an empty chair and watching a lone soldier on the karaoke stage drunkenly belting out a tune to a song, the others cheering and clapping as he did so. She sat quietly, enjoying the whole event. During that time, she reflected on her journey so far.

In retrospect, she had gotten everything she wanted. It was so dumbfoundedly amazing and wondrous, that it left Monika thinking she was in a dream every second. She was no longer alone, no longer trapped in that place. Of course, it left her to wonder about the fate of…

She shook her head.

 _No,_ she thought. _I shouldn't preside over that. If they're gone, they're gone._

"Hey there."

Monika's thoughts were interrupted by another voice. Sitting in a chair next to her was a woman, wearing the UFAA uniform. She was smiling at Monika, clearly indicating she was not drunk. Otherwise, that smile would have instead been a shit-eating grin.

Monika felt it necessary to smile back. Since it was only James she had mainly been talking to this entire time, greeting and talking to strangers was a big obstacle for her.

"I'm Karen. Nice to meet you."

She stuck her hand out, offering to shake. Monika took it cordially.

"Monika." She responded in kind.

"Nice name."

As Karen retracted her hand, she snuck a glance to James, who was contemplating into his glass mug at the bar.

"Saw you walk in with that boy. I'm guessing he's a friend of yours?"

Monika smiled.

"You could say that."

Karen nodded, smiling back.

"Well, Monika, since you guys don't seem to be UFAA, might I ask what you guys are doin' on this side of the country?"

The question wasn't peculiar. As Monika had been told, the vast majority of civilians had moved to the West Coast, where they were defended overseas by Japan's secured frontier.

"We're on a mission."

"For who?"

"Rodney."

Karen made a face.

"Which Rodney?"

"General Rodney."

Karen laughed out loud, mused by the response. However, when she made eye contact with Monika again, she seemed surprised.

"Wait, you're serious?"

Monika nodded.

"Wow...well, i'm pushed to disbelieve you, seeing as people who are tasked with missions from such important figures wouldn't usually reveal stuff like that…"

 _Shit_ , Monika thought nervously.

Karen had made a point. Monika wasn't sure if she should be revealing such a task to people so easily. However, she didn't want to look naive, so she tried to smooth over the mistake.

"Well, it's not much of a task, so it's not really confidential."

Karen raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Then what's the task?"

 _Oh crap, i'm just digging myself into a deeper hole_ , Monika thought.

"What're you hiding….?"

As Karen peered at Monika, Monika began to inwardly panic.

 _We might have to make a run for it…_

Suddenly, Karen chuckled lightly.

"I'm just yankin' your chain, girl. I couldn't much care for what the 'task' is."

Monika, at first confused, realized Karen was joking. She laughed nervously.

 _This girl's getting on my nerves._

Another thought occurred to her, though.

"How come you aren't inebriated like the others?"

Karen was a bit thrown off by the blunt question, but then smiled.

"Well, someone's gotta drive us back to our outpost. We drew lots and unfortunately, that had to be me."

Monika nodded. Since she was here, she decided she might as well get to learn more about the UFAA.

"So, what do you guys do mainly?"

Karen glanced to the side, thinking about her answer for a moment.

"Well, we mostly patrol the countryside, and are called to fight at places where enemies are found. My squad is specifically tasked with dealing with enemy squads that infiltrate too deep into the countryside. However, you'll find a good portion of the UFAA fighting on the east coastline of the US, since that's where the Sebbies' main assault is at."

Monika nodded. After that, Monika kept asking more and more question pertaining to the UFAA, learning more about what they do. The conversation only lasted a few minutes, but by the end of it, Monika felt she was sufficiently knowledgeable on the UFAA at this point.

"By the way, I don't mean to pry, but I noticed you seem to react to this info like it's pretty new. Most civilians know this information since the war started. And, uh, I don't mean to be rude, but you look very...odd. Would you happen to be a foreigner?"

Though this seemed like a relatively innocent question, Monika knew that due to this East vs. West war, there would surely be xenophobia against Easterners. She would have to be careful how she answered.

"Yes, actually. I was born in Belarus. Though I was only a child when I moved here, to the US."

Karen nodded her head, but Monika was pretty sure the girl didn't know where that country was.

 _I think it's time I go talk to James now_ , Monika thought.

"I hope you don't mind, but i'm gonna go talk to my friend again."

Karen bowed her head slightly, offering her hand to shake once more, which Monika did.

"Sounds fine by me. It was nice talkin' to ya, Monika."

"The feeling is mutual."

Just as the words came out of her mouth, she realized how weird that sounded in a colloquial conversation.

 _I'm gonna have to work on my diction_ , Monika thought.

She stood up from the seat and began walking towards James, who seemed to be a bit inebriated at the moment. Monika wondered how it would be to talk to James when he was buzzed.

 _Creeeak._

"Wow, look at this place."

Monika turned her head to see a large group of punks walk in. She could tell they were punks by their leather jackets, blue jeans, and cruel smirks. As the group swaggered in, Monika felt like she was caught in a stereotypical 80s drama. She wasn't far off.

Meanwhile, the group, which Monika now saw to consist of a few dozen people. She also noticed that on each of their jackets, a red symbol was printed on the right breast, except for the thug speaking, whose symbol was bright yellow. At the distance she was at, she couldn't discern what the symbol was.

The punk leader took his time ambling down the steps to the main lounge, looking around the place with a frown on his face. His cronies swaggered in behind him, eyeing the place. While most of the UFAA soldiers were too captivated in their activities to see the group, a couple noticed the punks and watched them with squinting eyes. A few placed their hands on their sidearm holsters.

 _I can sense the tension from here_ , Monika thought.

"Look at all these fuckin' pigs. Sporting their uniforms like they're proud of their tyrannic overlords."

As more of the thugs filtered into the club, more and more of the UFAA soldiers began to take notice of the large group. Tension began to fill the air.

Suddenly, the leader noticed Monika standing in the middle of the lounge, and looked her up and down, grinning.

"Damn, ain't you a fine one. A little on the odd side, but you're definitely a 10."

In this situation, most girls would be discomforted by the sleazy confrontation, but with Monika being Monika, she reacted as she always did. She smiled.

"Thank you for the compliment."

The leader was a bit put off by the response. He expected her to react with fear or disgust. Still, he pressed on.

"Well, it seems you're more than interested, huh? Name's Brock. Why don't we leave these shitheads and go somewhere else to...get to know each other better?"

As he said this, he wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her in close to him. Most girls in this situation would be severely discomforted or even disgusted by this action. However, all Monika could think was:

I wish James would do this to me.

On the thought of James, she just then realized he was still in the bar. She had the thought that this would surely make James jealous, but she couldn't just attack the guy. She decided to defuse the situation the best way she could. However, she wasn't sure if real life people reacted the same way as the girls in the other world, so she decided to try a new tactic.

She smiled.

"Let go of me, you ugly fuck."

Brock's expression went from confidence to shock as he heard the words. He took his arm away from her waist.

Seems the strategy worked.

 _Slap!_

Monika fell to her knees as she felt a hand smack her across the cheek. She looked up to see the Brock's face contorted in anger.

"Who do you think you are, bitch?!"

The pain stung, though it was nothing compared to what she had dealt with in the Screaming Void. She rubbed it with one hand to suppress the pain. Meanwhile, the soldiers in the bar began to stand up, their faces expressing rage as they saw the action. Brock and his cronies noticed this, tensing up as they readied for a fight.

"Oh, so now you pigs are angry-"

 _ **SMACK!**_

A fist came from the side and hit Brock square in the jaw. His face turned and he landed on one knee, grunting as the pain kicked in. His subordinates reacted in shock, turning their heads to see who did it.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, asshole!"

Monika almost didn't recognize the feral expression of James, who had spit the sentence like it was acid at Brock. Brock looked up at James, a bruise welling up on his cheek.

"You thon of a bith! You're gonna regret that-"

Before anyone could react, James flew across the floor, launching an uppercut into Brock's face.

 **CRACK!**

The sound of bone fracturing resounded across the lounge, reaching everyone's ears. James wasted no time, grabbing Brock by his hair and beginning to smack his head into the side of the wall repeatedly, all while screaming obscenities at him, his face contorted in feral-like rage.

"FUCK YOU!"

 _THUD!_

"FUCK YOU!"

 _THUD!_

"FUCK YOU!"

 _THUD!_

Everyone, even Brock's own subordinates, watched in shock as he continued to mercilessly brutalize the young man. Brock tried to resist, but every attempt weakened significantly as his head was rattled violently against the plaster wall.

 _THUD!_

"COWARD!"

 _THUD!_

"SCUM!"

 _THUD!_

"PARASITE!"

At this point, blood was beginning to spew out of Brock's mouth and bruises and splattered on the ground and wall. Finally, one of the cronies snapped out of the state of shock and rushed over to pry James off of Brock. As he did, James elbowed him in the face, breaking his nose, making an audible crunch.

"AH FUCK! MY NOSE!"

He reeled back in pain, covering his face with his hands. James turned his fury on him, aiming a vicious kick at the man's leg. Another crunch was heard as the hard impact fractured the vulnerable bone, causing the man to scream in pain. James silenced him with a straight punch to the face. From there the man crumbled, but James' bloodlust wasn't sated. He jumped on top of the debilitated thug, launching fist after fist into his already broken face.

As the fight continued, more and more people from both sides jumped into the fray after breaking out of their initial moments of shock, and the lounge turned into a full-on brawl. Soldiers and thugs traded blows, with blood staining the counter of the bar, the ground, the walls, and the furniture. Monika got up, afraid to see what was happening to James. She rushed over to where he was, but was surprised to see him effectively taking on three thugs at once. Of course, he was marred with bruises and cuts from the brawl, yet more ferocious than any other fighter in the lounge. As the fight faltered for a moment, he walked over to Brock, who was still laying on the ground groaning. Brock saw him approach and raised a hand weakly.

"P-Please-"

 _ **CRUNCH!**_

James silenced Brock with a swift heel kick to the temple. Brock fell unconscious, severely injured, leaking blood out of all parts of his face. The falter lifted, and James jumped back into the fray, punching and kicking like a wild animal.

Eventually, the thugs began to retreat in groups of two, then four. Finally, the last reserves of them ran out of the bar, with UFAA soldiers jeering at them as they scampered away.

Monika noticed James stagger around a bit, then fall to the floor, unconscious, littered with bruises.

"James!"

She ran over, looking over him with worry. Luckily, she didn't have to call for help, as UFAA soldiers swarmed to pick up James, carrying him into another room. Monika was about to get up when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Karen, flashing a grin at her.

"Don't worry. They're putting him in one of the bedrooms. Yes, this place doubles as an overnight hotel. Our field medic will tend to his wounds."

"I'm still gonna check on him!"

Karen put her hands up in a peaceful gesture.

"And you can. Just wait till the medic's done taking care of him, is all i'm saying."

Monika didn't like the idea of leaving James in the hands of strangers. However, the soldiers did rush to his aid in the brawl, and they didn't seem like they had bad intentions. Maybe she needed to learn to trust more.

"Alright then…"

* * *

 _10 minutes later…_

Monika sat in a chair across from the bed James was laying in, looking at him with her head propped up with one arm. She had just entered the room a couple minutes ago, after the medic had finished his work. She was concerned by the numerous amount of patches and bandaging, but she was happy he was okay regardless.

Suddenly, the room's door opened, and Karen walked in, tipping her cap at Monika, who nodded silently. Karen closed the door behind her softly, then took up the seat beside Monika, looking at James.

"There's no brawl like a drunken one. I learned that a couple of years ago, when a group of my friends and I fought it out with some assholes who had too many drinks. Of course, so did we." Karen mused, reflecting on the most recent event.

"Who were those men?" Monika asked.

Karen was once again put off by Monika's bluntness. She looked at Monika.

"You don't beat around the bush, do you?"

Monika didn't know what that meant, so she kept silent, waiting for an answer. Karen sighed.

"Those guys were SAC. Stands for Separatists, Anarchists, and Communists. They're a very large gang that is widespread across the US. They aren't too big in numbers, but they are a pretty big problem. They make up Anarchist and Communists ideologists, SEB sympathizers and other people who hate the US and its allies for whatever reasons they have. Surprisingly, there are quite a few of them, and they've been a big thorn in the our side since the war began. I won't go over the details, but they basically just create propaganda, hate, and violence against us. Of course, we're authorized to shut down any of them we see, but we don't usually engage them unless they engage us first. We don't have the manpower to spare on dealing with these assholes."

Monika took all of this information. It was quite intriguing how diverse in ideologies this world was.

Karen turned her head back to look at James, who was still unconscious.

"...Your, uh, friend there, if i'm gonna be completely honest, really went off the hook. I can understand a punch to the face, but that was damn near murder…And it scared me. I think he might need to see a therapist, at the very least, because he didn't seem to have mental problems before that attack."

 _Shut up, bitch._ Monika thought to herself. Of course, she didn't voice her anger.

Compared to what Monika had seen and done herself, she didn't find that spectacle particularly scary in any way. In fact, she found it to be a big turn on. The way James had so viciously protected her, it was so endearing.

"But enough of that. My guys give their sincere thanks to him for helping them in that fight. When he wakes up, you go ahead and tell him that he's welcome to a beer with us if we meet again."

Monika smiled.

"I'll be sure to tell him so."

Karen nodded.

"Welp, I think you got it from here. If he needs any more medical attention, we're staying here for a bit longer, and there's extra medical supplies on the dresser."

She got up and headed out the door. Before she left, she tipped her hat once more, and Monika could see a rank printed on the front of the cap. She wasn't sure what it was, but by the way she had referred to the other soldiers as 'my guys', Monika assumed she was their leader.

 _Who cares?_ She thought.

She directed her attention back to James.

* * *

"...Uuuugghhh…."

"James!"

30 minutes later, James had finally woken up from his unconscious state. The first thing to fill his blurry vision was Monika's smiling face.

"I'm so glad you're awake."

"Yeeahh, me too…"

James brought his head up, groaning as he felt dizziness. He fought against it and laid back against the headboard. He sighed deeply, holding the ice pack against his face, groaning slightly as the multiple bruises pulsates and the cuts stung. Monika, who was busy trying to figure out how to turn on the TV, was thinking about a question she wanted to ask James.

"Hey, uh, Monika, I think you just press the red 'Power' button at the top right of the remote."

"What? Oh yeah...thanks, James."

James nodded, continuing his groaning and moaning. Once Monika had the TV turned on (to which it was broadcasting news of a waitress who had been found behind the restaurant at which she worked, unconscious and with a fork impaled in her hand), she decided to ask him the question. She turned around, seeing James sipping on a cup of water, and asked the question.

"Have you ever had sex?"

James spurted out a small stream of water, and in the process of inhaling, caught water in his throat. He coughed several times, beating his chest as he leaned forward. This doubled in pain with his sore sides, leading him to groan loudly as he struggled with the double whammy he had just received.

"Why must you _*cough* *cough*_ do this to me, Monika?"

"Sorry."

Monika took a seat at the edge of the bed, watching James sipping his water and sighing. She felt another question itch in the back of her brain.

"You look like you want to ask something else, Monika."

"..."

"Look, i'll take it, but just try to make sure it's not too inappropriate."

Monika hesitated a bit longer before finally giving in.  
"Why did you attack that guy so vehemently? I mean, I know I of all people shouldn't be asking that, but it's just…"

James looked down, putting his cup on the dresser next to the bed. His look was one of regret.

"I...I didn't mean to lash out so hard at him. Yeah, he slapped you, and that was definitely worth an ass-beating, but…"

James' lower lip quivered as he began to talk further.

"You know, you really start to miss something when you lose it. I've lost my mother, my father, my...sister... my whole goddamn town…I didn't….I didn't want to lose anyone else."

He grabbed his chest, his breaths shuddering.

"My chest...it hurts. It-it hurts so much. Whenever I think about them, m-my chest tightens up into a knot, and it hurts. My emotions get a-all balled up inside of me, and I-I don't like that. I don't like that at all. It hurts to think about them. It hurts to think that I-I once had them, and now they're just...gone. Their laughing and crying. Their very _presence_. You never realize how much those everyday greetings mean until they're gone. What I'd do for just one more 'hey, champ' from my dad, one more 'good day, sweetie' from my mother….They were always there for me, even when I was the worst. They _cared_ for me."

He took a moment to take another breath, trying not to break into tears.

"My dad taught me to hunt, to drive. My mother taught me to take care of myself, to learn how to deal with people. My sister always looked up to me, and I did my best to be her role model. They came to my special events and cheered me on. They took me to the movies. They did so many things for me, and it's only now that I remember them. It's only now, when they're already gone, that I remember how _good_ they were to me. It hurts just to _think_ about them."

Teardrops fell from his eyes and dripped onto the sheets below. His sentences were filled with longer pauses as the urge to cry became harder and harder.

"I really can't believe...they're gone….every second I keep hoping it's a dream….that i'll wake up and...they're there. But they're not. All of their love, their happiness...their sadness...their laughs and cries...it's all _gone_. Their presence...is _gone_. Every time I came back from scavenging, or some errand….I expected them in the living room, just waiting to say 'Hey James, how was your day?' 'Are you doing well?' 'Want to go out hunting?' 'Want to go see a movie?'"

He couldn't hold it in anymore. He began to sob, bringing his hands up to his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I couldn't have that….happen again...to you. I can't lose you, Monika. Your positivity, your unrelenting happiness to be in this god-forsaken world, it's made me feel so much better. How? How can you stand to be in this merciless, destructive, paranoid, terrifying world? I would _kill_ myself if I had to deal with that pain again. I would."

As he continued to sob, Monika felt her throat close up, and her eyes begin to tear up. She shuffled across the bed, embracing James.

"I can't let you die, Monika. I can't. I can't."

"I feel the same, James. I won't let you die. You're the only person who's cared about me. I've never h-had a dad or a mom, or a sister. I've never gotten to-to experience that. I don't know what it's like. I only have you, James."

As she lifted her head, James saw tears streaming down her face. She was sobbing.

"Please, James. I don't want to be lost in another uncaring, unforgiving world. I can't deal with that. Please. Please. Please."

She continued to chant that single word in between sobs. James brought her head against his chest, and she grabbed his shirt, crying into it.

"Please. Please. Please."

* * *

They stood outside of the bar, with Monika looking up at the stars once again as James went over the map in his hands.

"Okay, so we're about...uh...12 hours away (I think?) from Albany. If we continue up I-90 than I'm sure we can get there a bit-"

"Hey James."

"Uh, yeah?"

"Don't you ever wonder how beautiful the stars are?"

"Um…"

Silence ensued for a moment before Monika continued, still gazing at the stars.

"Do you ever take time to just appreciate what you have now?"

James said nothing, reflecting on her words.

"...I know we have an objective, but…that shouldn't be the only thing you think about. I mean, look at the sky. The land around you. The green grass. The beauty of the trees, of the leaves as they shake softly in the wind."

As she turned her head to lock eyes with James, he was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"You have so much to appreciate, to be happy for. Where I came from, I had nothing. Everything, including the very reality I was in, was fake. I had been thrown into a horrifying existence where I had nothing to hold dear, nothing to appreciate, nothing to even think about. It was all meaningless…"

Her gaze changed from despair to relieved joy when she began her next sentence, a smile forming on her face.

"Then...I found this world. I was overjoyed beyond any measure to be here, where everything is so alive, so lovely, so...real."

She began to shake the further she went into her talk.

"At first….I thought it was a dream. I truly didn't think someone as horrid as me could deserve anything even close to this. But as this journey has gone on, I've begun to realize that, by some miracle, I have been granted this life. I have been given the opportunity to experience all of this."

She wrapped her arms around herself, looking down as tears spilled from her eyes, droplets hitting her skin. Through the soft crying, she said her sentences between sobs.

"I...don't know how to repay you. I am indescribably grateful that...that you have helped me all this way, even when I haven't done anything to earn it. Even when I have been a burden, even when I have been shallow, even when I have let you down, you have been kind and supportive and determined no matter what."

She lifted up her head, giving James a genuine smile through the tears.

"Maybe it's only been a short time, and maybe I am being too melodramatic, but...I just can't help but express how happy I am. This is all I have ever dreamed of...and more. So, I just wanted to tell you, James…"

Monika clasped her hands in front of her, her lips trembling.

"Thank you."

…

James was lost for words. In just those few short minutes, James had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions. He felt drawn to Monika in a way he had never felt to anyone else in his entire life. He was surprised to find tears running down his face when he wiped them from his eyes.

"Well, um…"

Beyond those two words, he couldn't say a thing. He and Monika locked eyes for a moment. In that moment, James felt a deep, instinctive feeling to dedicate himself completely and utterly to Monika. He wanted to bring her into an embrace and kiss her, to protect her life among all others, even at the cost of his own. Eventually, he worked up the ability to speak again.

"I'm….glad, Monika. I am so happy that you said that."

He smiled back at her.

"Because for as long as you're with me...I'll do what I can to make you happy, and to keep you safe. I won't let you die."

Hearing those words, it was like a boiling pot of strong emotions had spilled inside of Monika. The last vestiges of her will to maintain composure broke. She began to cry intensely, staggering towards James. He quickly grabbed a hold of her and brought her to his chest, holding her. She gave in, crumbling into James' arms. It was a bit awkward since he was a bit shorter than her, but it became more convenient as she had fallen to her knees, allowing her head to fall against his chest.

She didn't care about the awkward grasp. She wailed in relief, having finally felt a colossal amount of stress, despair, and pain lift off her shoulders after what seemed like a lifetime of torment and horror.

After a few more moments in the light rain, Monika stood up, wiping her tears. James stood there, hands in pockets, waiting for her to recompose herself.

"We really need to stop crying so much. You, um...ready to go…?"

Wiping her eyes with her palms one last time, Monika then clasped her hands behind her back, beaming a smile at James.

"Always."

* * *

 _ **Author Notes:**_

 _ **This was 10,000 goddamn words. You better have fucking enjoyed it.**_


	8. Blood & Bullets

**_IMPORTANT!_**

 _In a few chapters, I will be instituting user-created characters into the UFAA as recruits for a special chapter. That means that I want you people reading this to create characters for the story. There will be a number of slots that will be filled, so make sure that your character has a decent background, name, and traits (also a nickname that suits their traits). The background can be however long you want it, but it needs to be accurate to the world (can be from any country), and should at least note how they joined the UFAA as recruits._

 _The nickname doesn't have to be something like 'Ghost' or whatever. It can also be an abbreviation of a name (i.e. Alexander is instead 'Alex)_

 _Here is the template:_

 **Character Name (First & Last):**

 **Background:**

 **Traits (Min. 2 good & 2 bad):**

 _Enjoy the chapter..._

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Blood & Bullets**

Finally, they were on the last leg of their journey. Over 18 hours of driving was finally leading up to this point. On one hand, James was relieved to finally be accomplishing the mission. However, with the time he had spent with Monika, he had enjoyed it.

At the thought, he looked over at her. She was spending the time sleeping, which he wasn't surprised about. All of that sobbing and worrying from earlier must have tired her out.

Bringing a hand up, he lightly touched the bruising around his eye. That earlier fight had definitely fucked him up, but it definitely gave him some learning experience to never take on a couple dozen thugs again.

However, he was frightened by how ferociously he reacted. When he witnessed Brock slap Monika, it was like something had fueled his rage with boiling lava. The way he had acted was similar to something his father had talked to him about when he was 16…

His train of thought was interrupted by a rank smell. He looked around to find the source.

 _SKRRT._

The jeep came to a full stop.

"Oh my god."

To his left, about 10 meters and in a field of grass, tons of dead bodies were piled atop one another. James opened the side door, hopping out and running over to the corpses.  
"Hoh, fuck! FUCK!"

The corpses had UFAA uniforms on. The stench was sickening, and the combination of flies zipping around the dead bodies with the reality of the situation almost made James vomit. He covered his mouth as bile crept up his throat.

"James? What's wrong?"

Monika came hiking up behind him.

"Don't!"

James tried to warn her to stay away, but it was too late. As she came running up, she also felt the sudden rotten stench fill her nostrils, along with the sight of the dead bodies. Immediately, she turned around and vomited on the ground, for the first time experience severe disgust. She thought she would be more horrified, but this had not been the first time she had seen a dead body.

"We..we need to report this to someone. T-The UFAA…" James stuttered, horrified at the sight before him.

 _Cock._

"You won't be reporting to any of the bodies."

Hearing a thick Russian accent, James turned his head quickly, seeing a tall, brutish individual wearing a grey camouflage uniform and a grey beret. In his raised hand was a magnum revolver. James saw Monika to be staring down the thick barrel of that gun.

As he revealed himself, a plethora of other SEB soldiers had come out of the thickets of the surrounding forest, pointing automatic rifles at James and Monika.

"Get on your knees."

James had no choice but to comply. He got on his knees, with Monika doing the same.

"Put your hands behind your head."

James complied, as did Monika. Though Monika was a couple feet away, he noticed that she was visibly sweating and shaking. He couldn't blame her. He himself was terrified of the situation.

As the Russian noticed their compliance, he lowered his magnum revolver, shoving it in his holster and putting his hands together.

"Well, now that is what I expected."

The Russian walked around the two, inspecting them up and down. He noticed their sidearms, as well as the rifle James had slung on his back.

"You two. Disarm yourselves. And don't try funny things."

In any other situation, James would have been quite amused by the Russian's sentence butchering, but this wasn't any other situation. Slowly, he disarmed himself, unslinging the rifle from his shoulder and setting it on the ground. He also pulled his pistol out of his holster and laid it on the ground.

As he looked to Monika, he noticed her hesitating.

"Monika, put your gun on the ground."

After hearing his voice, she nodded, disarming herself and laying her weapon on the grass.

"Wonderful."

 _ **SHOK!**_

Suddenly, James felt a hard impact against the side of his face. He fell to the ground, but immediately went to get back up, holding his face. It pulsated as the pain from the wounds he had gotten from the lounge fight resurfaced.

"James!"

As Monika shot up and tried running towards him, she felt a hard smack against her skull. James saw one of the soldiers smack her with the butt of his gun. She crumpled to the ground.

"Monika!"

James was about to move when he felt the barrel of a gun placed against the back of his head.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don't try any of the things, _James_."

James froze. He watched as the same soldier who had smacked her slung his rifle over his shoulder and got down on her, holding her arms down as he sidled onto her. He spoke something in Russian to the man holding a gun against James' head, and the man responded back.

"It seems your...friend girl there is quite...alluring to my soldaty. But let's not get onto that yet. I am Sergeant Yegor, leader of special squadron tasked with sabotage of UFAA."

As James was listening, he heard heavy rumbling from the left. He looked, but couldn't discern anything in the darkness of the forest. Yegor noticed his eye movement and grinned.

"Wondering what that is, huh? I will be happy to show you."

With that, he whistled in the direction of the forest, and the heavy rumbling started once again. James' eyes widened.

Though it was partially hidden, James knew exactly what the machine was. Its two front spider legs protruded out from the forest, looking menacing as they were coupled with the barrel of the main cannon, which stuck out from the top. The full moon casted a bright light on the landscape, where just enough of it was able to illuminate the frightening architecture of the machine.

The Spider Tank.

"Behold the glory of this wonderful invention, a proud result of Eastern technological innovation. A prototype, but a glorious machine nonetheless."

Yegor looked down at James, his grin now taking on a malicious light.

"With this machine, we can position it on any terrain we want. Walls and ceilings are not challenge. Vantage points are now a reality for these tanks. We're moving to the front lines of New York to launch quite the ambush on them."

As the Sergeant went on, James was beginning to feel desensitized.

 _This can't be real._

He couldn't lose in this. He was on a mission! How could he lose to these _evil_ people?!

 _This can't be real, this can't be real._

The good guys never lost. He couldn't just _die_ here….could he?

"Well, enough talk. Dionisiy-"

Yegor said a couple words in Russian to the soldier holding Monika down. The soldier nodded, then began to fondle Monika. She tried to resist, but he smacked her across the cheek and continued.

As James was forced to watch on, he felt that same rage he had at the lounge begin to resurface.

"You know, you two made quite an impression at Galveston-"

"Let me go!" Monika screamed, as the soldier continued to sexually assault her. The rage in James began to boil.

"-As we tortured some of your town friends back then, they gave up your names so easily. No loyalty among you all, huh? Then again, I did have to start skinning some of the children before the adults talked."

Monika's screams continued to echo throughout the forest, sending crows fluttering from the branches of trees. The soldier ignored them, as he reached down into her jeans. Though Monika thought she would enjoy sexual contact, this felt alien and wrong. She wanted it to be with James, not this filthy _fuck_.

"Quiet, whore!"

 _Smack!_

Monika was once again hit across the cheek, silenced only for a moment before she continued crying in rage and helplessness.

 _James' vision began to turn red, his chest tightening as he felt the black tar of utter fury coursed through his veins._

"Now, I felt it to be fitting that we exact revenge upon you two for what you did to my soldiers back there-"

 _He couldn't hold it in anymore._

" _ **LET HER GO YOU FUCKING SCUM!"**_

James threw his arm behind him, grabbing the gun in the Sergeant's hands. Yegor tried to pull back, but James' overwhelming, rage-filled wrath strengthened him. He launched a punch towards the Sergeant's face.

 _ **SMACK!**_

The Sergeant staggered backwards as he held his nose, letting go of the weapon in his hands. Immediately, James turned around, pointing the gun at the soldier on Monika. He pulled the trigger.

 _ **BANG!  
**_ The soldier's head shot back as the bullet went through his skull. Blood shot out of the hole where the bullet entered, spilling across the dead soldier's face as he crumpled backwards.

James aimed his gun at another one of the soldiers, who had been watching the ordeal. He pulled the trigger again.

 _ **BANG!**_

The soldier yelled in pain as the shot rang out, the bullet impacting him in the ribs. He fell down, holding his stomach, dropping his weapon.

 _ **SMACK!  
**_ James felt a hard smack against the back of his head, and he crumpled to the ground. He looked up to be staring up the barrel of one of the soldiers' rifles.

"Wait, wait! Don't shoot him. He does not deserve a quick death. We need to make him _suffer_."

With that, Yegor came over. James could see blood pouring from the broken nose James had given him. He raised his boot and kicked James across the face. James grunted in pain, though he did not feel it that much because of the adrenaline running through his veins.

"Make him look at her, the girl."

The soldier turned James around, pointing his head at Monika.

"Butusov-"

He issued an order in Russian. The soldier nodded, pointing the barrel of his rifle at Monika's knee.

 _ **BANG!**_

" _ **AAAAAAHHHHH!"**_

Monika screamed in pain as the shot went through her knee. She flailed on the ground, searing pain pervading her leg. The more she moved it, the more it hurt.

"MONIKA!"

James watched in horror as two other soldiers came in and started to beat her, punching her in the face and kicking her body. James struggled against the hold of the soldier, who had to get the assistance of another soldier to hold him down. He watched helplessly as she was brutally beaten.

Finally, they stopped, and James looked on in despair at Monika, bruised and bloodied from the vicious assault. She groaned in pain, shuddering as her hands laid limp on the ground, too weak to do anything.

Yegor barked another order, and the same soldier came up once again, pointing at Monika's other kneecap and pulling the trigger.

 _ **BANG!  
**_ She screamed in pain once again, flailing around, though not as much as before as she was drained of energy. She began to cry, tears streaming down the side of her face.

" _LEAVE HER ALONE YOU FUCKING MONSTERS!"_

James managed to throw off one of the soldiers, slamming the other in the face with a jab, and attempting to run for Monika, before he was hit in the face with another butt of the gun. This time, he almost passed out, taking another hard hit to the head. He crumpled to the ground, ten feet away from Monika. She watched him through narrowed eyes, shuddering heavily. She tried to call out for him.

" _James…"_

James looked up groggily, seeing Monika suffering on the ground. He could barely hear her.

"It's gonna be okay, Monika, I'm gonna find a way out of this-"

" _I don't...want to die...James...please…"_

James began to cry, hearing these words pierce his heart.

" _I just...found this….beautiful world….I don't want….to leave it...yet."_

"I know, Monika, i'll find us a way out of this, please stay alive…"

Yegor walked over, idly holding his gun.

"Aw, now what is this beautiful moment I see?"

He raised James' head, taking a look at him and Monika crying.

"So sad. Think about how I feel seeing my soldiers die."

He let go of James' head.

"Alright, i'm getting bored of this. Busutov-"

He issued another order in Russian. The soldier nodded, then brought the barrel of his gun and planted it against the back of Monika's head.

James felt as if he was in a nightmare, watching this all happen in slow motion. He stared on in wide-eyed horror, seeing the barrel touch the back of her head.

"Now you can feel the same suffering I faced seeing my comrades die."

A moment passed.

Then Yegor snapped his fingers. James saw the soldier tense up as he pulled the trigger.

" _ **MONIKA, NO-"**_

 _ **BANG!**_


	9. Deathless

**_IMPORTANT!_**

 _In a few chapters, I will be instituting user-created characters into the UFAA as recruits for a special chapter. That means that I want you people reading this to create characters for the story. There will be a number of slots that will be filled, so make sure that your character has a decent background, name, and traits (also a nickname that suits their traits). The background can be however long you want it, but it needs to be accurate to the world (can be from any country), and should at least note how they joined the UFAA as recruits._

 _The nickname doesn't have to be something like 'Ghost' or whatever. It can also be an abbreviation of a name (i.e. Alexander is instead 'Alex)_

 _Here is the template:_

 **Character Name (First & Last):**

 **Background:**

 **Traits:**

 _Enjoy the chapter..._

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Deathless**

" _OH MY GOD, OH MY FUCKING GOD,_ _ **MONIKA!**_ "

James screamed in shock and horror as the bullet went through Monika's skull, thudding into the grass below. Blood splattered across the ground, and her body went limp, crumpling to the ground.

James was paralyzed in shock. He was speechless, unable to utter a word.

The one person he had been dedicated to protecting was dead.

This couldn't be real.

 _This can't be real._

"Welp, now that that's done, you guys can finish off the kid."

Yegor gave another order in Russian, and the group of soldiers surrounding them began to close in on James.

 _This isn't real, this isn't real, i'm in a nightmare._

His thoughts distorted as the world around him began to feel overwhelming.

 _I can't live in this world. I'm in hell._

The soldiers came closer.

 _She's not dead. She really is not dead-_

 _ **She is dead.**_

One of the soldiers put their hand on his shoulder.

 _Chomp!_

" **AAAH, BLYAD!"**

James had bitten his hand, shaking his head violently as he took hold of it. His mind had snapped.

One of the soldiers shouted at the others for him to get him off. Before they could, James closed down his teeth and bit off two of the soldier's fingers. The soldier screamed in pain as James spit them at the ground and growled ferociously at him.

"This kid is fucked in head!" Yegor remarked loudly.

James jumped up, launching himself at the closest soldier and grabbing him by the skull. The soldier yelled in panic. James began to beat on the man's head mercilessly, causing the soldier to fall to the ground. James saw a nearby rock and picked it up, then began to repeatedly smash it into the soldier's head. A sickening _crunch_ was heard as the rock shattered the the soldier's nose. James continued smashing the rock into the man's head before he was dragged off by three soldiers and thrown to the ground.

" _ **I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU ALL! I'LL TEAR YOUR GODDAMN HEADS OFF YOUR SHOULDERS! I'LL-"**_

Before James could get another word in, he felt a hard smack against his face as a soldier's boot cracked him across the face. He fell to the ground, and before he could get up, he was continued to receive beatings from both punches and kicking. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw another soldier walk over and begin to undress Monika's body, while the spider tank shot its cannon at the jeep.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The jeep took the cannon shot at the front, blowing up as the engine was compromised. Flames and debris flew everywhere, bent metal and fragments scattering the ground around it.

All he could do was suffer in silence, watching helplessly as the nightmare continued.

The pain was overwhelming.

Slowly, he began to lose consciousness…

 _This can't be…_

 _The End…_

* * *

…

…

…

…

…

A flash of light, which dimmed just as quickly as it had appeared.

Another flash of light, this one brighter. She could feel her neurons, which had previously been shattered, now repairing themselves and connecting. Memories flooded back to her.

The corpses.

The ambush.

The-

 _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-**_

 _Everything was so painful. She felt a horrific, searing pain in her head, her arms, her legs. Her body was trying to restart itself, mend its wounds._

 _But the pain, god the pain. She wanted it to stop. It was overwhelming, she couldn't handle it anymore._

Her vision was filled with a grey camouflaged soldier presiding over her, trying to pull her shirt off. Feeling was coming back to to her body. She could move her arms, her legs.

 _BUT THE PAIN WOULDN'T FUCKING STOP!_

 _STOP!_

 _STOP! IT HURTS!_

 _ **IT HURTS SO FUCKING MUCH-**_

Her mind snapped.

* * *

As he looked down at the nearly dead body of James, Yegor took out a cigarette, whipping out a lighter as well and opening the top. He lit the cigarette, putting his lighter back in his inner jacket pocket. His work here was done. It was about time to move on.

He looked up and over at Butusov, who was still trying to get the shirt off of that dead girl.

"Hurry it up, Butusov. I want to be at Scranton by dawn."

Butusov looked up, flashing him a grin.

"I'm trying, sir, but this girl has some big tits. It's a bit hard trying to-"

 _ **CHOMP!**_

Suddenly, Monika's head jerked up, and she brought her teeth down on the Russian's neck. He screamed in pain and shock as blood squirted out of the wound. Yegor's eyes widened in horror as he witnessed a dead body suddenly jerk up and bite his subordinate.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

The other soldiers stopped what they were doing to turn their heads. Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened as they witnessed the horrific spectacle.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"_

The soldier continued to scream in agony as Monika continued to bite down on his neck.

 _ **RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIP!**_

The sickening sound of tearing flesh emitted from the soldier's neck as Monika pulled a chunk of flesh from his neck. The soldier gagged in horror, then fell over on the grass beside her, flailing in pain as he choked on his own blood.

The other soldiers were frozen in shock, most of them having dropped their weapons as they witnessed the sight. One of them screamed in horror.

" _Nezhit'yu! Ona vernulas' ot grebanykh mertvetsov!"_

Yegor looked over at the soldier who was screaming. He proclaimed that she had come back to life.

 _A zombie._

He didn't hesitate, however. His combat training kicked in, and he whipped out his pistol and aimed for center-mass. He pulled the trigger.

 _ **BANG!**_

Monika felt something impact her in the stomach. She looked down to see a hole in her stomach, bleeding profusely. Before she knew it, it stopped bleeding, and the exposed skin gelled over, looking like normal skin again.

She didn't feel the pain. Her mind was too unstable to process the pain her nerves were shooting to her brain. She looked to the knife the now-dead Russian soldier on the ground had in his back holster. She reached down, taking out the knife, and looking back up at the soldiers. They couldn't move, paralyzed in horror at the monstrosity before them.

Then, she screamed.

" _ **RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"**_

With that, she began sprinting at them, raising the knife over her head as she did so. One of the soldiers fell down in horror, desperately reaching for his dropped rifle on the ground. Monika noticed his movement and pounced on him, shoving the tip of the knife into his ribcage. He screamed in pain, wriggling around in terror.

She lifted up the knife and plunged it back down.

 _Shink._

 _Shink._

 _Shink._

Over and over, she stabbed the man repeatedly in a ferocious rage. Eventually, he stopped moving, gurgling on his own blood as it poured into his punctured lungs.

She continued to stab the corpse until he stopped moving. She then turned her head to the nearest soldier, who was pissing his pants as he witnessed the horror show she had displayed. He tried to reach for the sidearm in his holster.

 _ **BANG!**_

He staggered back, looking at the hole in his chest, streaming blood down his uniform. He looked up in shock to see Monika holding a pistol in her hand, the end of the barrel smoking. She pulled the trigger again.

 _ **BANG!  
**_ This time, the man fell backwards as the second bullet hit him in the throat. He gurgled as he flailed around violently on the ground.

At this point, the three other soldiers who were still alive had been scrambling for their guns. One of them managed to reach for his pistol and point it at Monika before she shot him in the shoulder.

 _ **BANG!**_

He fell over, yelling in pain as he dropped his weapon and held his hands against the bleeding gunshot wound on the ground.

Yegor had been watching all of this from behind the soldiers, terrified of that _thing_ that had just wiped out four of his soldiers. He looked behind him to the tank, which had sat still, the cabin members most likely frozen in horror as well.

"AIM FOR HER! NOW!"

He shouted at the tank. As moments passed, he looked back to see another one of his soldiers get shot in the leg, screaming as he fell to the ground, holding his wound. Monika aimed at the last soldier, who was quivering as he fumbled for his sidearm. She pulled the trigger.

 _Click._

The soldier she had been aiming at squealed as he heard the click. Monika looked down at her weapon, realizing it was empty. The soldier took this opportunity and pulled out his sidearm, firing several shots at Monika.

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG!**_

Monika felt several bullets impact into her body, and the force of it knocked her backwards onto the grass. She was still, having dropped the gun.

The soldier stood there, shaking violently as he watched her fall back. After a couple moments, he lowered the gun. He let out a high-pitched nervous laugh as she continued to lay still, his nerves wracked with fright. Yegor let out a shuddered breath as he looked back at the tank.

 _Thank fuck she's dead-_

Monika began to stand up.

The soldier who had been previously laughing stopped, seeing the body rise. As she pulled out the knife and began walking towards him, he brought up his pistol once again, pulling the trigger.

 _ **BANG BANG!**_

The shots hit her in the body, but she kept walking forward, staring at the soldier with death in her eyes.

 _Click, click._

The soldier looked down at his gun, realizing it was empty. As Monika began to run towards him, his willpower crumbled, and he began to run away, screaming in terror.

He wasn't fast enough. Monika pounced on him, bringing down her knife into his back and plunging it into his flesh.

 _ **Crunch.**_

The soldier screamed in pain as the knife cracked his spine. Monika was about to plunge the knife into his back again when she realized what she had done. She smiled maliciously, getting up from his body. The soldier, who was in pain, was terrified to think of why she had stopped her horrible assault. He tried to move for his gun.

He couldn't move.

"Huh?!"

He tried again to reach for a rifle nearby, but his legs wouldn't move.

He feverishly tried to move around, but his legs wouldn't respond.

 _He was paralyzed from the waist down._

He began to yell in Russian, panicking more and more as this realization began to set in.

Meanwhile, Monika was staring Yegor dead in the eye. He felt dread crawl up his spine, and began running back to the Spider Tank. He glanced back quickly, but was surprised to see Monika running for the blown-up jeep.

 _Is she fucked in the head?_ Yegor thought. _What is she gonna do with that jeep?_

He watched on as she dug around in the front. He heard metal grinding, then closing. In her hands was a rocket launcher. She brought it up, aiming it in his direction. He looked behind him at the tank.

 _What an idiot,_ he thought. _This tank has heavy armor plating._

Then he realized that she was aiming at him. He turned pale as he watched her pull the trigger.

 _ **BFWOOOOM!**_

The rocket shot out of the launcher, heading right for him. Yegor jumped away just in time to avoid taking the rocket head on.

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOM!**_

The explosion had hit under the spider tank, where there was a plethora of wiring running under the vehicle. Yegor knew that was a weak spot. A couple moments after the explosion had impacted, fire blazed from under the tank, the circuitry and wiring having taken serious damage.

Yegor knew the tank was going to blow up any second. He began scrambling away, running for safety. He had gone about 10 feet before looking back. He saw one of the tank operators throw open the hatch, desperately attempting to get out.

 _ **BTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**_

The vehicle blew up several times as first the tank blew up, then the explosive shells inside the tank did. Blazing, metal shrapnel was sent flying in every direction. One giant piece spun into Yegor's left leg, slicing it off completely as it spun by on its course.

" _AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"_

Immediately, Yegor fell down, holding his leg as he screamed in pain. The leg bled profusely.

He looked up at the fiery mess that once was the spider tank. He had failed his superiors.

His heart was caught in his throat as he saw Monika's silhouette illuminate in front of the fire. He began to shudder, seeing her walk towards him, her bloodied knife held at her side, dripping blood from the tip.

After that massacre, Monika's mind had eventually become stable. However, she still felt a raging hatred for Yegor.

She took another step towards him.

"H-hey! Don't fucking come closer, you monster bitch!"

She took another step.

Yegor realized he still had his gun on him. He pulled it out and began firing shots at Monika.

 _ **BANG, BANG!**_

 _ **BANG, BANG!**_

Bullets smashed into Monika's chest. She yelled in shock as she felt the pain. Now that her mind was no longer unsound, she could feel pain. However, the pain slowly subsided as her body broke apart the bullets and absorbed them into her flesh. Her skin quickly healed, returning to its normal state. The wound repaired itself within seconds.

She looked back up at Yegor, who was gazing upon her in horror. He pulled the trigger again.

 _Click._

He was out of ammo. He dropped the gun, scooting back with his hands, his leg still bleeding profusely.

"P-Please! You have the boy, James! You can go now!"

At the mention of that name, Monika snapped out of her rage for a moment.

 _James!,_ she thought.

She looked around, then behind her. She saw his beaten frame laying in the grass. She felt her rage boil over, and she turned her head back at Yegor, who shook violently as he saw the malicious intent in her eyes.

" _WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"_

Yegor stammered severely as he tried to come up with an excuse.

"W-Wait! P-Please! H-He's s-still ali-alive! W-We only b-beat him a b-bit!"

Hearing this, Monika stopped for a moment. She felt a wave of relief wash over her as she heard he was still alive.

"Y-you can l-let me g-go now, r-right?"  
Monika looked down at him.

He stared into her cold, apathetic eyes.

They held no mercy inside.

She walked over and, ignoring his pleas, jabbed him in the nose. Feeling the pain in it once again, he felt disoriented. He looked up to see Monika grabbing his hand. He watched her as she began to saw through one of his fingers.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

He screamed in pain, flailing around his upper body as she continued to saw through his finger, blood gushing out of the wound.

 _Schick._

Finally, the finger came off. Yegor screamed in agony as he fell to the ground, depleted of energy from the entire ordeal.

"We've got a long way to go."

Hearing these words, Yegor looked up in absolute terror as he saw her pick up his hand again.

" _NOOOO! NOOOOOOO-"_

* * *

James woke up groggily. He could barely move his head.

 _I...I'm still alive….?_

Using what energy he could, he moved one arm, lifting his upper torso up to look at his surroundings.

Carnage was all that filled his vision. He was surrounded by dead, mutilated bodies. He heard fire crackling and looked over to see, a couple dozen meters away, the blown-up spider tank, smoke fuming out of the top and bottom of it, fire engulfing the whole thing. The surrounding trees had been blown to smithereens from being within the blast radius.

He fell back down on the ground, looking up at the sky. His energy was slowly coming back to him, though so did pain of his near-death beating.

 _How...how did I survive?_

Monika popped into his mind, and he got up, despair beginning to fill his head as he looked for her body. He was perplexed to see that the body wasn't in the place where she had fallen. He looked over to his right. In the far distance, he could see someone bent over something else, and faintly, sound from that direction reached his ears. It was the sound of a knife plunging into flesh.

However, as he squinted his eyes, he could just barely make out a giant bow tie sitting atop the person's hair.

 _What?! That can't be…_

James had seen her die. He had seen the bullet penetrate her skull and thump into the ground below. He saw her head drop, her lifeless eyes staring back at him.

 _What is going on?_

At first, he might have thought he was dead. However, this didn't look like any sort of heaven.

 _Or hell,_ he thought morosely.

He continued to watch the figure in the distance, hearing the squelching of flesh being cut. He decided to call out loudly.

"M….Monika?"

The figure stopped cutting. It stood up, turning around and staring back at him. He felt fear grip his heart, afraid he had just provoked some serial killer. Then, the figure came running towards him. As she became visible, James saw it to be-

"Holy fuck! HOLY FUCK, IS THAT YOU MONIKA?!"

He was bewildered as she came running towards him. He was about to cry in relief when he saw her body.

"James! Oh my god, James! You're awake! God, what did they do to you?!"

From the top of her head to her toes, she was covered in blood. On her face, her shirt, her jeans. James looked into her eyes. Her pupils were heavily dilated, shaking around slightly. She looked mentally unstable.

She got down on her knees, casually sticking the combat knife into one of the dead bodies, and cradling James' face with her bloodied hands. As tears streaked down her face, she smiled in relief. James could see blood stains on her front teeth. He felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Monika...what...why are you…"

Monika tilted her head, waiting for his question.

"Why are you..covered in...so much blood?"

She looked down, seeing what he was talking about, and giggled slightly.

"It was nothing. I just had to take care of these _scum_ for a moment. But it doesn't matter now, because we lived! We won!"

James snuck a glance down at the dead body Monika had plunged her knife into. He noticed that several of the man's facial features were missing.

"Monika...did you...mutilate their bodies?"  
"Of course."

She answered without hesitation.

"They had to feel pain for what they did to you, bruising you up so badly."

James could feel the blood on her hands coat the sides of his face as she caressed him so carefully. The look in her eyes was so….unsettling. James was horrified by what she had done.

"Monika…"

He lightly placed one of his hands on her arm.

"...Are you...okay?"

Monika's smile dropped for a moment, her pupils shaking a little bit more.

"Yes...yes i'm okay, James, now that i'm with you again."

She continued caressing his face softly. She brought her face closer to his, and kissed him. James would have thought this to be romantic, but he felt there was a more desperate undertone from Monika, as if it was necessary to regain her sanity. It seemed she was kissing him to reassure herself of something.

As she brought her face back, she continued staring into his eyes, her dilated pupils shaking a bit less.

"Haah….haah….."

James was starting to become freaked out by this.

"Okay, Monika...let's go find somewhere to sit for...a moment. Can you help me up?"

Monika nodded fervently. She quickly went to go collect their dropped weapons, then came back over, offering her shoulder. James wrapped one arm around her shoulder as he strained to get up. Finally, he was on his feet.

"We passed a house about a half-mile back. How about we go back there?"

"S-sure…"

As they began to walk towards the road and back towards the house, they happened to pass by the body of Yegor. James almost vomited when he saw the barely-recognizable Sergeant. His fingers and toes were cut off. His eyes, ears, and nose were cut off, some of his teeth pulled out. His body was stabbed countless times. Even though James hated the man's guts, he was still horrified by the spectacle.

Looking back over at Monika, dread crept up his spine. He was afraid...

Afraid of her.

* * *

After around 20 minutes, the two had finally found the house, which was abandoned. It was a two-story, and looked relatively untouched.

"Let's head inside." James said.

"Okay."

Monika turned the door knob, pushing in on it. The door swiftly opened, and Monika and James staggered in. The walked in on a staircase leading up to their left, a living room to their right.

"Put me...on the couch." James mumbled.

Monika complied, bringing him over and sitting him on the couch. He grunted as he sat down, his arms flopping to his sides. Monika took a knee beside him, looking at him with worry in her eyes.

"Are you okay, James? Do you need something to drink? To eat?"

As she mentioned this, James noticed that his throat was parched.

"Water...please…"

"Of course, James."

She got up and flew over to the kitchen, which was connected to the living room. James could hear the sound of the fridge door opening, then closing. Monika came from around the corner, holding a bottle of water in one hand, a full bottle of whiskey in the other. She placed the whiskey on the coffee table in front of the couch, then opened up the water bottle.

"Open your mouth, James."

He complied. She began to pour water into his mouth. A bit caught in his throat, and he coughed.

"Oh my god, James, are you okay?!"

James nodded weakly.

"Y...Yeah...i'm fine...just some water caught in my throat."

He was thrown off by how strongly she reacted. Tears began to streak down her cheeks.

"Oh my god, i'm so sorry James. I'm so sorry."

She mumbled to herself, grabbing at her head as she shook.

"Monika, it's...it's fine, really. Don't...worry yourself...over that…"

Monika looked up, smiling at him.

"I'm...in bad shape...from beating...please find...medical supplies."

Monika realized what he had said and pulled at her hair, looking at the ground in worry.

"You're right, you're right! FUCK, why didn't I think of that?"

She got up.

"I'll go look for some supplies."

She darted out of the room. James felt his consciousness slowly begin to fade.

He felt exhaustion and drowsiness, and fell asleep...

* * *

When he woke up, James felt groggy once again. This time, he was more invigorated. He could move his arms and legs around more easily, though he was still badly beaten. He looked down to see himself wrapped in bandaging. He was surprised that it looked like perfect medical attention, as if he had been catered to by an experienced doctor.

He brought his hand up and touched his head. He could feel bandaging on his head and face as well.

" _...Gotta read between the lines…"_

James suddenly noticed the sound of a boombox playing music, specifically ' _I Want to Know What Love Is'_ by Foreigner. He looked up and saw the boombox seated on the coffee table. To his right, Monika was sitting in one of the comfy chairs, cradling the bottle of whiskey, which had less than half of the contents inside.

"Monika…"

Monika looked up from the whiskey and smiled drunkenly at James.

"Oh hey, James! I'm so glad you're awake…"

Her words were heavily slurred.

"...I've just been so lonely, ya know? Waiting for you to wake up…"

She tried getting up, but fell to the ground, dropping the whiskey bottle. It partly shattered, the rest of the drink spilled across the floor, staining wood floor and the carpet under the coffee table. Monika giggled drunkenly, crawling towards James.

Seeing the sight, he felt his heart ache. He couldn't have imagined what she had to endure over these past hours.

He noticed part of the glass from the bottle had embedded itself in her arm, which alarmed him. He got up, sucking through his teeth as his sides ached like hell. Regardless, he got down on his knees, picking up Monika and bringing her over to the couch. He set her down, and was about to address the glass in her arm when he noticed it had suddenly disappeared, both the glass and the open wound. He was bewildered.

"Don't worry about that, James." Monika remarked with a heavy slur. "My wounds will heal anything."

James was alarmed by that sentence.

" _What?_ Your wounds...heal? That fast?"

"Yeah."

As a show of example, Monika took out the knife she had holstered in the sheath clipped on her belt and brought down the knife on her stomach. However, James caught the knife before she could plunge it in. He was horrified by what she had attempted to do.

"What the hell, Monika!?"

Monika smiled once again, clearly inebriated.

"Don't worry, my love, it's not going to kill me. Look."

She jerked her arm out of his hand and stabbed herself in the leg. James shot up from his seat, panicking.

"Oh my god, Monika! Jesus, I need to go get-"

"James, please watch."

James hesitated for a moment, then began to stare at her open wound. It was bleeding profusely.

"Monika, I need to treat that right now-"

"Please watch, James."

He directed his eyes back to the wound. Suddenly, the bleeding stopped, and the wound closed up within moments.

"Wha...what the hell…"

"I think…" Monika interrupted his bewilderment. "I….need to tell you about my past. My _real_ past."

* * *

As Monika went on with her story of her past, James was getting more and more freaked out. The answers she had given him swirled around in his mind. No matter how much he thought about it

"So wait...you healed from a _gunshot to the head?_ "

"Yeah." She answered nonchalantly. "But I can still feel the pain. It was so painful...So painful…"

Her lower lip quivered as she closed her teary eyes, planting her head against James' chest. He grunted from the pain slightly, but didn't protest.

"God...It hurt so much...it was as bad as the Screaming Void...my body felt like it had been torn apart and had to restitch itself back together…"

She looked up at James, smiling drunkenly.

"But...that means that you don't have to risk your life! I can protect you now, James...I can protect you now…So please, don't risk your life. I can take bullets for you."

James was speechless. All of that information he had just taken in was still registering in his head. But when he looked at Monika and into those unstable eyes...

 _This woman is dangerous._

When that thought popped into his head, his heart began to race.

 _She might kill me..._

 _Or torture and dismember me, like she did with those bodies..._

"Look...just...get some sleep for now, okay? We can talk more about this in the morning." He looked down at her as she laid her head in his lap, stared into those shaking pupils of hers...

"I'm comfortable here-"

She felt dismayed as James scooted out from under her, walking over to the front door.

"Wh-why'd you do that, James?"

James looked back, and for that moment, Monika could read his eyes.

There was fear inside of them.

"L-look, i'm gonna go out for a little bit and...uh...scavenge! Yeah, scavenge..."

Monika reached out with one hand in desperation.

"W-wait, James-"

Before she could finish her sentence, James walked out the door, closing it behind him. Monika dropped her hand.

She felt dread fill her head.

 _Is he afraid of me?_

 _Shit, shit, SHIT! I went too far, I did too much. I shouldn't have done those things!_

 _What if he leaves...?_

That last thought terrified her. Even more so, however,

It saddened her.

For who knows how long, she had been looking to no longer be lonely. She had achieved that when she reached this world, but even more than that she wanted _love._ She wanted dates, marriage, sex, a family and much more. All of those ideas had been swirling around inside her head since she had become sentient. Now that she had finally reached someone, she might have just sabotaged it.

With that grim thought in mind, she turned over on the couch and began crying to herself.

 _What's wrong with me..._

* * *

"What do I do? What do I DO?"

James muttered to himself a mantra of sorts. If he was being honest with himself, he had fallen for Monika pretty hard since he met her. However, from what he had seen at that place from earlier, he had been wondering who exactly he had picked up.

There was no doubt about it now- she was _not_ a Russian spy. Even the most in-depth spies wouldn't go so far as to wipe out an _entire Russian squadron_ , tank and all.

However, now he had new question.

 _Who is Monika?_

After all, he had just seen that woman _rise from the dead._ Combined with her past story of emerging from a laboratory, James almost didn't believe it.

But he witnessed it with his own two eyes.

Aside from that, from the way she acted both at that site and on the way to the house, it was as if she had been mentally triggered to go into such a psychopathic state.

 _I guess I can't really blame her too much, I would done the same in her position-_

What? Where did that thought come from?

He shook his head. Was he losing grip on his morals?

He rubbed his temple in frustration. So many questions were swirling around in his head.

However, there was one thing he knew now after that display of barbarism, and it was that he had to be cautious of Monika now, more than ever. Her massacre of those Russian would have been justified, but the dismemberment and torture afterwards...

It was unacceptable.

James sighed deeply. It was starting to overwhelm him. He had to clear his mind and take a walk for a little bit. Of course, he couldn't do that before notifying Monika, otherwise he might...suffer her wrath.

* * *

 _Creeaak._

Monika turned her head slightly, hearing the door open slowly. Subtly, she reached for the knife in her sheath.

"Hey, uh...Monika..."

She perked up, hearing James' voice. She turned around, smiling in relief. It was short-lived, though, as she noticed James was peeking through the door.

"Um...I'm gonna take a, uh, walk for a little bit...okay?"

The way he talked to her, as if she was some unstable monster ready to blow her lid off at the first sign of aggression...

Her heart ached in pain.

However, as if it came to her naturally, she put on a fake smile and waved at James.

"Okay. Be safe."

James seemed reassured by this answer. He nodded his head and closed the door.

Monika's hand lowered, and she looked down at the ground.

Her heart ached.

It ached worse than the physical pain she had endured...

* * *

Along the trail, about half a mile away from the house, James had arrived at a clearing, where a cliff overhang allowed for a view of a giant river. He took a seat, unslinging his rifle and placing it on the grass beside him.

His eyes moved around, looking at each of the beauties nature had to offer.

Flowing rivers.

Chirping birds.

Miles of trees, the branches shaking softly as a light wind blew against it.

Dawn arrived, and the sun slowly began to emerge. As the light of day flooded the landscape with a hazy, orange aura, James reflected on the Sergeant's words.

 _"Then again, the adults endured the torture pretty well. They didn't start talking until we began torturing some of the kids."_

Their suffering was caused...merely because of his intervention.

The very thought that he had caused that kind of suffering to others brought tears to his eyes. He felt the crushing pressure of guilt weigh down on his shoulders.

"What the hell?" He said out loud, his voice cracking in sorrow. "Why is it that I have to bring suffering?"

 _I'm just a fucking 18 year old with a rifle, so why am I being forced in the midst of all this?_

As he thought more and more about recent events, the more he felt responsible yet powerless. He failed to save his neighbors, fellow townspeople, Richard….Lily.

The most recent event brought pain to his heart. If she hadn't had that ability of resurrection, they would both be dead, with James having failed his mission to General Rodney and preserving the life of his travel partner, who wanted to live so desperately. Now, they were stranded in the middle of nowhere, and Lily had snapped as a result of her newfound powers.

 _I can't do this…I'm just a single teenager. How am I supposed to deal with this...?_  
With that solemn thought in mind, he found that despite the beauties of nature,

Despite the flowing rivers,

Despite the mountain ranges,

Despite the shining sun,

Despite the blue sky,

Despite his patriotism for his country and the greatness it contained,

He felt hopeless inside.

So painfully hopeless...

...And yet, invigorated.


	10. Enlistment

**_IMPORTANT!_**

 _In a few chapters, I will be instituting user-created characters into the UFAA as recruits for a special chapter. That means that I want you people reading this to create characters for the story. There will be a number of slots that will be filled, so make sure that your character has a decent background, name, and traits (also a nickname that suits their traits). The background can be however long you want it, but it needs to be accurate to the world (can be from any country), and should at least note how they joined the UFAA as recruits._

 _WARNING! Some or most of these characters could possibly be killed off. This IS war, after all. Depending on how well-built your character is, they might survive longer down the line. No guarantees, though._

 _The character you create can either be sent through a review or a personal PM to me._

 _The nickname doesn't have to be something like 'Ghost' or whatever. It can also be an abbreviation of a name (i.e. Alexander is instead 'Alex')_

 _Here is the template_

* * *

 **Character Name (First & Last):**

 **Nickname (Optional):**

 **Background (Basic):**

 **Traits (Min. 2 good & 2 bad):**

* * *

 _For the rest of you, enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Enlistment**

For the rest of the way to Ithaca, the atmosphere between James and Monika was awkward, to say the least. James would sneak the occasional quick glance in Monika's direction, whereas she stared out into the landscape. He wasn't quite sure what she was thinking about, but after last night, it was anyone's guess.

At this point, all James knew was that he would have to get Monika's psyche checked out. He genuinely cared for her, but at the same time feared her more than any enemies in the past. It was an odd feeling, and not something that James wanted to get used to.

This silent treatment from Monika wasn't exactly helpful, either. No matter how much James glanced in her direction, she wouldn't even take a peek at him. That bashed his confidence quite hard, but he should have expected as much. After all, he _had_ just alienated her last night.

He couldn't blame himself either, though. What was he supposed to do, give a pat on the back, say everything would be alright?

 _This is so damn stressful_ , I thought. _Hopefully she'll stop shunning me soon enough._

However, on Monika's end, it was a much different story.

 _I shouldn't talk to him, I don't deserve that_ , she was thinking in despair. _He's gonna hate me if I do._

More moments passed.

 _Maybe some music will cheer me up,_ Monika thought solemnly.

As she reached her left hand over to turn the knob on the music volume, she made eye contact with James, who had seen her hand extend outwards. She quickly directed her look back to the landscape. James sighed.

"Look...Monika…" He began. He wasn't sure what to say, all he knew was that he had to cease this awkward silence.

"I...I'm sorry for how I treated you last night. Seriously. I didn't mean to push myself away from you like that, but… we have to talk about that... _thing_."

She turned her head back towards him, forcing a smile.

"It's fine, James. Really. If you want to talk, i'd be glad to."

She was exhausted from crying the night before, so her faked calmness didn't fool even James.

"Why are you trying to put on an act, Monika? We've been traveling for some time now, there's no need for that. I...I just want to know what happened that night. I'm not gonna suddenly abandon you, no matter what the truth is."

That sentiment took a burden of stress off her shoulders. She was so glad to hear that he wasn't alienated by her. However, she still had to discuss with him the matter of that...incident.

"So...wanna start now?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah...um…"

 _How the fuck am I gonna explain this?_ She thought. _Oh yeah, so when I got to the point of cutting off that dude's ear, I just thought to myself, 'man, I want a taco right now'._

"...Yeah?" James was waiting for her response.

"Look, i'm gonna level with you, bro."

 _The fuck?_ James thought, bewildered by her sudden change in talking.

Monika shook her head.

 _What the hell are you doing?!_ She thought.

"U-um...sorry about that, just...I…"

For the first time ever, Monika was speechless. Her mind had been pretty screwed up since that attack. It happened once before in the _other_ world, and it was not something she wanted to be a recurring theme.

"James, I want to tell you something-"

"I was listening the entire time-"

"-It's about that night-"

"-I just said I was listening-"

"-And it's related to my recent half-death."

At that point, James just decided to stop talking as Monika took a breath.

"When I died, and came back...I felt unimaginable pain. It was like someone was tearing apart each and every single atom in my body, then trying to put them back together. As I came back to my senses, I was in so much agony that my mind simply...snapped. It was then that I massacred the soldiers. But, it didn't feel like they had suffered enough. You know how much pain they put you and I through, how they talked about skinning those _children_. That's why I just had to…make them suffer. That Yegor guy especially. After that, it just became...a blur."

…

…

…

…

…

"I see."

James did not see. If anything, he was more freaked out than before. It was like that talk he had once with a goth girl after school, when she talked about something really traumatic like cutting herself, but on crack.

However, he tried his best to sympathize for her.

"Look…"

He awkwardly placed his hand on her shoulder, then regretted it and took it back off. Monika expressed disappointment at that.

"Um...I just want you to know that as long as you can...suppress those...urges...then things will be just fine between us. Just...try not do stuff like that, okay?"

Monika nodded solemnly.

"Alrighty then...i'm glad we got that sorted out."

With that, the rest of the drive to Albany resumed back to normal, as if nothing from the night before had transpired. Monika went back to cracking shitty jokes, singing along to the radio, and generally having fun. James could never understand how she found so much joy in the passenger's seat of the car, but he was happy that she was traveling with him.

Still, if only he could get that fear out of his heart…

* * *

Within hours, James had arrived within the borders of New York. He and Monika gazed around the place. As it was January, it was freezing cold, and snowflakes came bustling down from the grey clouds above.

 _What a depressing place,_ James thought morosely.

However, Monika didn't seem to have the same thoughts. She gazed in wonder at the land around her, which was covered in a white blanket of snow. She reached up with one hand, a snowflake landing on the tip of her finger. She gasped quietly as she brought it down, staring at it as if it was the most priceless gem. Once again, tears dripped from her eyes, and she closed them, shaking fervently.

This whole world, everything about it, was a constant reminder that she was free.

As she sat there shaking, James had a feeling it wasn't because of the weather. He wasn't sure why she was so loving of, well, _everything_ , but he felt an urge to comfort her. With one hand on the steering wheel, he reached his hand over and placed it on her back, rubbing it. Monika turned her head and smiled brightly, tears still tracing down her cheeks as she held the single snowflake on the tip of her finger still.

As they came upon the address that was outlined by Rodney, James had to appreciate the beauty of the town. Forestry shrouded many of the buildings, but allowed beams of the rising sun to break through, giving the town an almost holy look.

James had never been able to travel out of state. His family simply couldn't afford it at the time. However, from what he had heard from his father, who had visited Ithaca, there were apparently beautiful waterfalls that cascaded down rock formations. There were supposedly plenty around this area, and some people would apparently go swimming and playing in the little lakes that would develop from these waterfalls. James wanted to check those out.

 _Skrrt._

The jeep came to a halt in front of a building that seemed relatively non-military. There were no guards at the front, no barbed wire fence wrapping around the building. It was just a simple, two-story complex with vertical windows looking outwards on the second floor.

 _Did we get the right building?_ James thought. _Maybe the wrong address?_

However, he was the absolute last person to doubt the integrity of a general's directions. The humming of the engine once again ceased as he turned the jeep off, stashing his keys in his pocket. As he got out from the jeep, he got some odd looks from passerby. He didn't know it, as he was so used to driving around in it, but it looked odd for a young man not in uniform to be driving around in a military jeep.

He continued into the building, pushing open the door.

Immediately, he was greeted with the most military-like setup he had seen thus far on his journey. Cameras were stationed at every corner he could see, armed guards patrolled around the lobby of the building, and there were black iron gates cutting off access to certain hallways and staircases. James felt like he was in a prison.

As Monika was about to walk in, James had a brief flashback to the diner, and quickly moved to keep the door open for her. As she walked in, she took a look at James, who was smiling broadly.

"Chivalry ain't dead yet."

Monika seemed confused by the word he had used, but smiled at him regardless, then continued walking in. Her reaction prompted James to wonder what atmosphere she had lived in where she wasn't even familiar with the concept of chivalry.

As the two walked up to the front desk, which had a thick set of glass covering the front, save for a small little open rectangular slot at the bottom, the secretary looked up from his computer. He shifted his glasses and peered at James and Monika, then leaned back in his seat.

"Good day. What can I do you for?"

"We're, uh, here to see the-the colonel."

The secretary narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean, sonny? You trying to pull something?"

James began to sweat. _Did I do something wrong?_ He thought.

He then heard chuckling coming from the secretary, who grinned at him. He pushed a button on his desk, and the iron gate in front of the staircase popped open.

"I'm just pullin' your strings, son. He's been expecting you. He's upstairs, second door to the right as you reach the top."

 _Dick_ , James thought in slight irritation.

He forced a smile, then made his way up the stairs. Monika followed him.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he looked around for the second door-

"Ah, there it is." He commented, seeing the oak door. As he walked up, he noticed what the little label on the wall next to the door said:

 _Colonel Matthews, Room B201_

 _Wow, this guy doesn't seem to care for secrecy, huh?_ James thought in slight surprise.

Hesitating for a moment, he finally went up and knocked on the man's door a couple times. A few moments went by.

"Come in." A voice said from the other side.

James turned the knob and walked in.

On first sight, he noticed that the office looked rather modest. There was barely any decoration, except for the one potted plant that sat in the far corner of the office. The colonel, who was in uniform, was sitting in front of a mahogany desk, with two chairs pulled up on the opposite side.

Upon seeing the two, the Colonel gestured with one hand, holding a folder in the other.

"Come in, you two. Have a seat."

James walked in shyly, unlike Monika, who swaggered in with confidence. The Colonel tilted his head slightly in curiosity upon seeing her.

As they sat down, the Colonel continued to stare at Monika, as if studying her. She smiled back in response, as if she wasn't bothered by it at all.

 _She probably isn't, judging by what I know about her_ , James thought sardonically.

"So…"

The Colonel planted his elbows on his desk, leaning forward slightly to engage the conversation.

"...I assume you're here for a reason? I was told that your arrival would be important, but I wasn't sure why."

James nodded with earnest, while Monika kept her eyes on the Colonel. She wasn't feeling particularly hostile towards him so much as cautious and wary. After the most recent events, she very much distrusted military members of any sort.

Meanwhile, James reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled letter, which was stained with blood.

"Uh, here's the letter, sir. Sorry for the...blood."

The Colonel chuckled slightly as he took the letter from him. He proceeded to open it up, pulling the form out and reading the inside contents. As Monika watched his eyes scan the list, she noticed a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth. He quickly resumed his normal facial expression and stashed the form back inside the letter, then stored it in his desk.

"Good work on the mission, son. I'm sure it was a task."

Monika turned her head to look at James, and was surprised to see him shaking. She could see he was about to break down mentally.

"Sir...I do need to...report to you about what we encountered….on the trip."

The Colonel tilted his head in curiosity. Inwardly, he had thought that the trip would have been a much-needed break of rest and relaxation, as he had heard about what happened to this young man's hometown.

"We...encountered a SEB patrol."

The Colonel's eyes widened slightly as he took in his news.

"Where?"

"It was actually a couple hours from here."

The Colonel was silent, letting James continue on.  
"They had this special tank, which they referred to as the 'Spider Tank'. It had four spider-like limbs, and the leader of the squad, this Sergeant Yegor guy, admitted that it could climb buildings to ambush unaware UFAA patrols."

The Colonel was in disbelief. He definitely knew that SEB had been experimenting with technology, coming up with something new to throw at the UFAA and IWA almost every week. Some of their inventions were truly terrifying, but most of them had vulnerabilities that led to their demise very easily. He was a bit surprised at how easily the SEB were dispensing casualties. Then again, they did have over 100 million active soldiers across the world, so it probably saved them money to simply throw people at their enemies like cannon fodder.

However, he was not aware that SEB forces had infiltrated the country. He was sure that there were small insurgents here and there, but they should have eventually been killed off by the local populace or UFAA patrols. The fact that one SEB patrol had gotten so deep into the country as to almost reach New York was a horrifying prospect.

With this newfound information, Colonel Matthew was planning on relaying this information to the other generals, along with his lieutenants, but he was stuck on a discrepancy in James' story.

"How did you hear about this plan from the Sergeant?"

James hesitated. Could he tell this Colonel about Monika's...powers? Who knows what the guy would do. He was about to respond with something when Monika suddenly took up the topic.

"We were walking down the road when we heard the rumbling of a patrol. We had actually encountered that same tank patrol at an earlier time, but we didn't think to report it then. As we heard them approaching, we jumped into the forestry on the side of the road and hid. That Sergeant Yegor guy was relaying his plan over the radio to somebody else, and we happened to overhear it. For some odd reason, he decided to speak in English. We don't know what that could suggest, unless…"

 _Spies._

That idea that Monika had been implying had already come up in Matthew's mind plenty of times. Despite this nation having a strong base of die-hard patriots, it was inevitable that some people would be turned against their own nation, whether by choice or not. He wouldn't be surprised if there were some currently working. However, there was no good way to treat that problem right now, as they were too focused on the front lines. The most they could do for something like that was have ID checks and only ensure that military officials were allowed to meet with high ranking UFAA officials and such.

However, Matthew couldn't help but be suspicious of how smoothly Monika had delivered the message. If Matthew himself had not had plenty of run-ins with manipulators, smooth talkers, and swindlers, he would have most assuredly not caught on to the subtle lying undertone that her talking carried.

Of course, Matthew didn't want to just straight up accuse her of lying. He directed his gaze to James, who had a more honest expression than Monika did. Though the boy seemed naive, from the way Rodney had described him, he was a die-hard patriot for his country. He could trust his answer more than the girl's.

"Is this true, James?"

James nodded his head rapidly. He felt like a sack of shit for lying to a UFAA officer like this, but he felt it was absolutely necessary to avoid further problems.

After a few moments of Matthew continuing to stare at James, he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin.

"Very well. This information may have just saved a ton of lives. Good service on your part, James. And to you as well, Monika."

Monika nodded simply, not particularly emboldened by his courage, though she found it a bit warming to the heart. James, on the other hand, almost cried tears of joy from being congratulated by such a high position, especially someone serving the country that he loved.

"So, listen, you two."

They waited for him to speak.

"You two are probably unsure of what to do now, since you've just accomplished the task before you. And James…I know what happened to your family, and I am truly sorry for your loss."

James felt his chest tighten a bit as his family was mentioned once again.

"But I think I have a solution. Now, before I present it, I will inform you right now - if you turn down the offer, you will still be offered housing, food, and other supplements as a reward for your dedication and help provided to the United States against the enemy. You will be given a role to do, but it won't interfere too much if you guys want to lead a somewhat peaceful life. Of course, there are a few places I can locate you, to your preference, but one such location is here, in Ithaca."

Monika had to hold herself together from breaking down and sobbing tears of joy. For the entire time she had been in this world, her one desire was to lead a peaceful and happy life with James. This was a wonderful opportunity to do so. Now, aside from the tasks they were assigned to do, they could go on dates, get married, have a family, and even grow old. Here, in this nice, quiet little town, with the beauty of nature personified in its every form. This was truly what she strived for.

"So, my proposal is simply if you want to join the UFAA and help push back the enemy-"

"Absolutely!"

"O-oh, okay."

Matthew didn't expect such an immediate answer, but James gave the response in such a hearty fashion. Truth be told, he had been wanting to serve in the UFAA for a long time coming now, he just didn't want to leave his hometown. Now that the opportunity presented itself, he was more than willing to take it up.

Matthew, though, wasn't sure if Monika wanted to join. He looked over at her.

"Wherever he's going, I am as well." She smiled at him as she said this.

Matthew was a bit put off by her blatant answer. From almost every couple he had seen when it came to joining the UFAA, there was always either hesitation, discussion, or loud argument over the decision. There were plenty of breakups because of the decision. But these two seemed to be tightly knit.

"Well...fantastic, then. Since we need soldiers on the front lines of the East coast, you guys can take up a few slots in my division."

He brought out a few forms and handed them to the two. James looked down, seeing it was a recruitment form.

"You guys just have to fill this out, sign it, and I'll stamp it to approve when you're ready."

After a dozen minutes or so of filling out the recruitment forms, the two finally finished, handing their papers back to the Colonel. He took them up, looked them over briefly, then nodded, bringing out his stamp.

James, who was excited by this whole idea, looked over at Monika. For a split second, he could see her lip quivering, and even a tear forming at the base of her eye. His jubilant mood had faded almost immediately, as he was concerned.

"H-hey, are you okay?"

He brought his hand over and laid it on her shoulder. She seemed to have realized what she was doing and quickly wiped her eyes. She turned her head and looked James in the eyes, giving a sincere smile.

"I'm just glad to be with you, James."

Matthew had subtly noted the exchange, but decided not to intrude. Before he stamped the two forms, he looked up once more at the two.

"Are you sure about this? Remember, this could be a very costly war, and you two could very easily be casualties of such."

For a long time, James had been coping with the idea of death. At some point, he had come to terms with it. If he were to die, then he wanted to do it for his country. When he first found out about his parents' death, he fell into a deep depression, and thought about ending his own life for a long time. After thankfully digging himself out of that terrible time, he had eventually understood what had to be done, for the sake of not only the United States, but the world as a whole.

There was a villain, and it had to be stopped. At any cost.

James nodded his head, and so did Monika. Matthew took one more moment for them to reconsider, then brought the stamps down on the forms. He handed them back to the two, a serious expression outlined on his face.

"Then welcome to the UFAA."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

\- If you should receive a notification that says 'chapter (blank) has come out', that sometimes happens when I re-edit chapters. Apologies if it pops up more than once, I try to keep re-edits to a minimum.


	11. Boot Camp - Part 1

**Chapter 11: Boot Camp**

 _Skrch._

The bus came to a sudden halt in front of a rather large estate. Alongside other young adults in fatigues, James and Monika stepped off the bus, holding bags of essentials in their arms.

"Oh boy." James uttered, looking up at the giant building before them. They had entered through a couple gates to get into the actual camp itself. The entire place was surrounded with tons of fencing, and in the distance James could see all types of different exercises and courses. A storm was brewing overhead, which gave the whole place a more grim look. James took a look at the sign posted on the front entrance:

 _Fort Langley_

There was sure to be hard times ahead.

From what James remembered, they had been brought down to South Carolina after being formally recruited into the UFAA. They had gotten onto a bus with a couple other fresh faces, and the drive down to the fort was around 12 hours. Unlike most of the other recruits, who spent their time sleeping, James had spent his time looking out the window and thinking about his time during this war. Monika, who sat next to him, gazed at him while he thought.

Eventually, however, he had fallen asleep - he was suffering from sleep deprivation since the attack by the SEB patrol.

He had been hastily woken up by Monika when she told him about the stop the bus made while recruits went out and drank, ate, and used the restroom at a lodge.

An hour later, they had finally arrived at the fort.

As he began making his way into the fort, Monika walked alongside him, thinking about the last conversation she had with Colonel Matthews…

* * *

 _12 hours earlier…_

"I will make you proud, sir!" James exclaimed in excitement as he shook the Colonel's outstretched hand with eagerness. The Colonel smiled as he did so.

As James began to leave, Monika pulled him aside for a moment.

"Hey James, I need to speak with the Colonel for a moment. I'll meet up with you in a second."

James was a bit curious as to what she was doing, but shrugged it off.

"Alrighty then. I'll wait for you outside."

Monika gave him a warm smile as he exited the room. She then turned around, her smile having dissipated. She went back over to Matthews, who was watching her as she took a seat once more.

"I want to be in the same group as James."

Matthews gestured with open palms. "Well, of course. You guys are going to be in the same division-"

"Not the same division, the same squad."

Matthews rubbed his chin for a moment. That wasn't a hard request. Though Matthews ensured that his division ran efficiently, making sure thing were organized and orderly, keeping these two together wasn't going to throw everything off. However, there was one problem…

"Usually, it's not smart to put people with close relations together, because they might place priority over each other rather than the mission."

"I promise that I will not endanger the mission or objective in any way whatsoever. James and I are good friends-"

 _Yeah, right,_ Matthews thought to himself. He had seen Monika giving James doe-eyed looks since she had walked in the room.

"-but I won't place him above the mission."

Of course, she was lying her ass off. There was no chance in hell that she was going to put anything above protecting James, _especially_ when she was pretty much invulnerable, as she had found out.

Matthews sighed. He didn't really believe what she said, but at this point he decided he would need every person he could get for this war.

"Alright, sure."

Monika smiled. Matthews couldn't help but admire just how strikingly beautiful she was. Of course, he had a wife, but it didn't stop him from realizing how pretty this girl was.

 _James is one lucky son of a bitch_ , he thought.

"Alright, i'll make sure you're paired up in the same squad."

"Thank you, Mr. Matthews. I cannot express how happy this makes me."

Yet, despite saying that, Matthews saw in her eyes an underlying tone of deep sadness. He wasn't sure why she was so downtrodden, but he assumed it was from James rejecting the peaceful alternative. He had seen Monika's face momentarily become wrought with despair before she hid it. Of course, it was none of his business to interfere in relationships like that.

"Dismissed."

Monika nodded, heading out the door.

 _Click_.

As the door closed, Matthews rubbed his head. Despite the fact that he was responsible for millions of lives and that the outcome of this war determined the fate of the entire world, there was only one thing on his mind at this moment, one that elicited a groan from the Colonel.

"I've got so much damn paperwork to do."

* * *

"Hey, Monika, you there?"

"Wh-what?"

Monika snapped out of her flashback, realizing that she wasn't moving with the rest of the trainees. James was glancing back at her, looking at her with a bit of worry in his eyes.

"You, uh, okay?"

Monika nodded, smiling at him.

"Peachy."

James chewed on his bottom lip, seeming to contemplate something.

"Alright, well-"

" **WHO THE FUCK SAID THIS WAS AN OUTDOOR PICNIC, MAGGOT?!"**

James yelped in fright as a deafening voice rang in his ears. His head swiveled to see a tall man in camo fatigues, wearing a drill sergeant's hat. He was peering down at James, who shrank down under the gear he was carrying in his arms.

" **GET MOVING! TO THE BARRACKS! NOW!"**

"Y-yes, sir-"

" **I CAN'T FUCKING HEAR YOU, MAGGOT!"**

"YES, SIR!"

" **GOOD! NOW GET MOVING BITCH!"**

The drill sergeant launched a kick into James' ass, prompting him to scurry forward towards the open gates and into the camp. The drill sergeant looked back at Monika, peering in the same fashion.

"YES, SIR!" She shouted, then followed suit to James. She was not planning on receiving the same treatment.

As the two were making their way inside along with the rest of the group, Monika looked around at the faces surrounding her. Their expressions varied wildly. Most of their faces expressed nervousness, but some of them were different. Fear, optimism, dread, hope, and determination were among many.

 _So many people from so many different backgrounds_ , Monika thought to herself. Once more, she was assured that this was not a dream. She really was alive, _here_. Once again, she was so unbelievably happy to be around _people._ Living, breathing. It was truly an experience.

Despite the rain pouring down from the grey, stormy clouds above; despite the hard times ahead; despite the currently-uncomfortable relationship she had with James; despite all of that and many more thoughts on her mind…

She was happy to be alive.

* * *

 _1 hour later…_

After haircuts, uniform outfitting, and some other basic procedures, the recruits had finally been sent to their bunks. Upon entering their barracks, the recruits immediately scouted out the area.

Dozens of bunk beds lined both sides of sizable room. The room itself was somewhat low-hanging, though not too claustrophobically small. At the end of each bunk bed was a rectangular container, most likely for storing equipment. Besides that, the room was rather empty.

As the recruits began to file in, everyone began picking bunk beds, and Monika was quick to find her and James a suitable bunk bed. Upon picking the one that was right at the middle, the two began unpacking their belongings.

"Man, you two give off a weird vibe, that's for sure."

Monika and James looked up from their unpacking over at the bunk bed to their right, where an older-looking gentleman was idling. The first thing James noted was the scar running down his left eye, almost like a lightning bolt. Beyond that, the guy was somewhat unremarkable, not much taller than James, with shaven blonde hair, blue eyes, and stubble. From what Monika could analyze, he had subtle physical Germanic features.

"Are you German, by chance?"

The man was thrown off by her immediate question.

"Uh, um, Ja..."

Monika nodded. Having not quite learned to master social interaction yet, she had created a very awkward situation here, from what James could tell. He sighed inwardly.

 _Might as well fix this_ , he thought.

Smiling, he put his hand out to shake.

"Nice to meet you, sir. Name's James, this is Monika." He jabbed his thumb at her, to which she raised her head and smiled. The man gave a half-smile, still off-put by how odd the conversation was starting off. Regardless, he shook James' hand, making eye contact with him while doing so.

"A...pleasure. I am Franz. Franz von Richter."

James nodded.

"So, Franz, I noticed you're a bit...older than most of the other recruits here. Is there a, uh, reason for that?"

Franz nodded.

"I've served in the military before. The German Bundeswehr, in fact. Or rather, the armed forces of Germany. But…"

Franz averted his eyes to the ground, seemingly reminiscing on some painful memories.

"It's fine...you don't need to delve into that. Anyways, what's your-"

"Hey, dude, you taking top or bottom bunk?"

James and Franz turned their heads to another fellow, who was on the other side of the bunk. He was about the same height as James and Franz, and had pale skin, dark brown hair, and brown eyes, and looked at Franz, expecting an answer.

"Well?"

"Er...you can choose whatever you want."'

The man grinned.

"Hell yeah. Thanks, bro. By the way, what's your name?"

"Franz von Richter. You can just call me Franz. And, uh, this-"

Franz pointed at James.

"-Is James, our bunk neighbor."

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Conrado Villegas, proud Argentinian and hater of Communist bastards. Say, either of you got cards on ya?"

The quick change in topic was a bit off-putting to Franz and James, but they shook their heads. Conrado sucked through his teeth in disappointment.

"Damn. I was hoping we could get in a quick game before shit starts."

"Hey, uh…"

All three turned their heads to the right. Yet another fellow, rather buff and tall, was holding a card box in his hands, grinning.

"Somebody wanted cards?" He said, his speech accompanied with a slight Russian accent.

Conrado grinned back, walking over and slapping him on the back.

"Hell, yeah! What's your name, broski?"

"Er...it's a bit long. You can just call me Tolya."

"Tolya? Sounds fine by me. I'm Conrado. Those two-"

Conrado pointed at Franz and James.

"-Are James and Franz. They're our bunk neighbors."

Tolya smiled at them, walking over to shake their hands.

"So, introductions aside, how about we get this game-Oh, christ, what is that smell?!"

Conrado's face expressed disgust as he pinched his nose. Franz, James, and Tolya soon followed suit as the odor reached their noses.

"Oy, what's going on over here?"

The four turned their heads to see a rather short fellow standing, arms crossed, in front of the quartet.

"Why're you guys covering your noses? Is there a dead rat I'm not seeing? Because I don't smell anything."

Conrado peered at the short man.

"Wh...how the hell do you not smell that?! It's so pungent…"

Conrado's eyes widened as he thought about something.

"Wait...is...is that coming from _you_?"

The man shrugged.

"I dunno."

As a test, Conrado let go of his nose for a second, wondering if the smell was gone. To his unwanted surprise, it had not. He gagged as he covered his nose once more.

"That _must_ be you! Did you dump yourself in a lake full of toxins or something?!"

"Hey, come on! I just haven't showered yet. This only comes out if I don't wash for over 9 hours."

"Great…"

"By the way, i'm Oswald von Panzer, but you guys can call me-"

"Shrek. That word just popped into my mind, but it sounds grody enough that it would fit your smell."

Oswald seemed irked by that response.

"I'd prefer if you not call me that-"

"Take a shower, and I'll stop calling you that."

" **MAGGOTS!"**

Without warning, a voice rang out through the room. Every recruit froze, then ran to the front of their bunks, standing at attention. At the far end of the room, James recognized the drill sergeant from earlier that had yelled in his face, accompanied by two similarly dressed individuals.

 _Great, we got this guy,_ he thought, groaning inwardly.

" **ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP, FUCKHEADS!"**

As the drill sergeant began to speak, he walked slowly from one end of the room to the other, his hands behind his back, his chest jutting out. The other two followed behind him, separated at equal distance.

" **I AM DRILL SERGEANT HARDEN! THESE-"**

He jabbed his thumb at the two standing behind him.

" **ARE YOUR DRILL CORPORALS, MANNING AND RODRIGUEZ! WE WILL BE YOUR OVERLY-ENTHUSIASTIC COACHES, MENTORS, AND CHEERLEADERS FOR THE FOLLOWING WEEKS!"**

A few snickers were heard from the recruits at the mention of the Drill Sergeant's name. Harden looked around, his face set in a permanent scowl.

"For all of you who just got a good fuckin' har-har at my name, congratulations, you're officially deemed to have the mental age of a **FUCKIN' TWELVE YEAR OLD!** On top of that, you're ALSO designated to toilet cleaning duty for the first week! And don't try to avoid it, because my DCs spotted _everyone_ who chuckled just then."

Several groans were heard throughout the room, including one from Oswald, who had been one of the unfortunate few to find humor in the DS's name.

"With that shit out of the way, I will now be giving you a short brief on what is to come. First off, as soon as I dismiss your sorry asses to the free time that you don't deserve in the next 30 minutes, you WILL have your bed made and ready to be slept in so that your small brains are ready for the hellish weeks to follow! If they are not, **REST ASSURED I WILL SEND YOU BACK TO YOUR MOMMAS TO GO LEARN HOW TO MAKE YOUR DAMN BEDS! AM I CLEAR?**

"YES, SIR!"

The collective shout echoed throughout the room as one singular yell.

" **FAN-FUCKIN-TASTIC!** With that said, this week will be your first and ONLY week of ease, as you will be issued your equipment, go through several different inductions-slash-briefings, and some other minor tasks. However, the first REAL assignment will begin on Friday! **DISMISSED!"**

With that quick departing word, the DS turned on his heel and left the room, accompanied by the DCs, and everyone returned back to what they were initially doing.

"This sucks." Conrado remarked. "I always acquaint Friday with something good. I hope that assignment doesn't ruin it for me."

Franz shrugged. "In war, everyday you're alive is a good day."

Conrado looked at him and frowned, clearly not comforted by these words.

"Anyways, let's get back to that card game you were talking about."

"Right. So…"

As the five pulled up a short table to play cards on, Monika studied the group. She noted how quickly and easily those five had come together, having fun and bonding. There was surely something to learn from that, as Monika wanted to be a part of it.

"Hey, Monika, want to come join us in this card game?" James inquired, looking back at her from the seat he had taken at the table. "I got a seat open next to me, if you want to join up."

Monika smiled. For now, at least, she could be thankful for James.

"Of course."

* * *

 _Week 1, Friday_

The dreaded day had finally arrived. Despite the relative ease of the days following this one, including swimming exercises, briefings, and issued equipment, every recruit had been dreading to think of what would happen on Friday.

As the Drill Sergeant and Drill Corporals herded the recruits out onto the field, James took this time to look around. There were tons of different areas designated with signs. Shooting ranges, hands-on training, obstacle courses, and many other areas. To James' utter discontent, his platoon was heading towards one such obstacle course.

When the front of the platoon came close, Harden ordered them to stop, then marched towards the front of the formation, a duffel bag in his right hand.

" **LISTEN UP, SHITSTICKS!"** He started. " **TODAY, YOU ARE ALL GONNA GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER THROUGH SOME ADVERSARIAL TRIALS! FOR ALL THE DUMBASSES IN THIS PLATOON, THAT MEANS 'GAIN THROUGH PAIN'! AS THE SAYING GOES, NOTHIN' BRINGS PEOPLE CLOSER TOGETHER THAN PAIN AND SUFFERING!"**

"I mean, he isn't wrong." Tolya muttered.

" **YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I AIN'T WRONG, SON!"**

Tolya expressed shock at hearing the DS respond to what he thought was a comment made under his breath. James noticed Conrado, who was standing to his left, had suddenly turned pale. That was because he had been talking trash about the DS during the march.

"You don't think he...overheard from earlier?" Conrado whispered to James. Immediately, the DS turned his head towards Conrado, smiling wolfishly.

"Oh I heard every word, Recruit Villegas. And I'll be givin' you a _special_ assignment "

Just when James thought Conrado couldn't be any white, Conrado defied that notion, turning as white as marble. However, something about the DI's remark bothered James.

"How does he know your name? Did you meet him or-"

"I suggest you direct your questions to my face when you're talking about me, Recruit McCarthy."

James' eyes widened as he looked over the DS.

"For your information, I happen to have a nearly-photographic memory, which is why when I looked at the roster of who I would be overseeing, I memorized every. Single. One of your faces."

He directed these last remarks at the entire platoon, sweeping his gaze over the formation.

"Of course, I did say _nearly_. There's still some shitbirds that I need to get a hold of. This course is the perfect exercise for my brain, so I can recall every faggot and rugmuncher in this assembly. Now, enough small talk."

The DS waved his hand over the obstacle course. It consisted of logs marked with yellow paint, as well as some sort of climbing obstacles, a couple 2-3 meter high walls, and some other obstacles too far off for James to see.

"You worms will be navigating this course three times in a row. After that, we'll do some other team-building exercises consisting of planks, barrels, balloons, blindfolds and more."

 _This shouldn't be that hard_ , he thought to himself. Before he had gotten here, he envisioned a very grueling and arduous course, but this seemed relatively tame for-

"Oh, and for this segment, one of your feet will be tied to a partner's."

 _There it is_ , James thought.

"You have approximately ten seconds to find a suitable partner. Otherwise, I will pick _for_ you. And rest assured, I'll make sure that you are paired up with someone far contrasting your height and weight."

"James."

Feeling a hand touch his shoulder, he turned around to see Monika looking at him, smiling.

"Nah, I think I'll pick someone else." James jested.

Monika's face turned from content to utter fear within a second.

"Wh-what?"

"I'm kidding."

" **TIME'S UP!** Who's still single?"

Surprisingly, no one was unpaired. The DS grunted.

"Now ain't that a shocker. Usually, there's at least a couple dipshits who stand out. Looks like we have ourselves a very tight-knit squad."

The DS then threw down the duffel bag, unzipping it and taking out a plethora of cut rope, tossing segments to every pair.

"Now, tie that shit around the left leg of one partner and the right leg of the other, and we'll get started."

A couple minutes later, after everyone had gotten their feet tied (with the exception of a couple recruits who a bit incompetent, and were yelled at for being 'more stupid than a camouflaged distraction, whatever that meant), the DS pointed at the course.

" **NOW GET GOING! MOVE IT!"**

With that, every pair of recruits started waddling awkwardly towards the course, with some falling over right at the start, much to the DS's amusement. As James and Monika waddled up to the first obstacle, which was a sideways log up to waist-height, James began to brainstorm.

 _Alright, so conventional climbing won't work, since our feet are stuck, so how are we-_

"If you place your back against the log and swing me over, we can essentially roll over the log."

James was thrown off by how quickly Monika was able to come up with a solution. He nodded, and as they got up to the log, James placed his back against it, then as he rolled over, he grabbed onto Monika and swung her over him. She landed swiftly on the ground alongside James, and the two continued down the course. The other paired recruits saw this method and began doing the same thing.

Harden noticed the recurring use and grunted.

"That's annoying. Now that's less fuck-ups I can laugh at." He muttered to himself.

Inwardly, however, he was impressed by the quick-thinking of that particular pair.

"Recruit McCarthy and Robinson, huh?" He said to himself. "Might have to keep an eye on those two."

However, his slight admiration for the two quickly turned to extreme annoyance as the rest of the course consisted of James and Monika overcoming the obstacles with relative ease, thanks to Monika's quick thinking and James' athletic prowess, and each of their strategies was copy-catted by every pair behind them. The whole point of going through the course three times in a row, besides team-building, was for the recruits to awkwardly stumble around and fall, then painfully get up, their muscles aching, their minds tiring. It was meant to build up their willpower and determination.

As everyone got to the end of the course after the third time around, the DS marched towards the front of the big group, frustration written all over his face.

"Listen up, fucknuts. I don't know what you think this is, but you can't copy-cat every single thing someone does in every scenario. Despite that…"

He sighed, rubbing his temple.

"...You still got through the course as a team, _I guess_. Now…"

He brought up the duffel bag once more, shaking it slightly so that the group could hear the several items inside.

"...It's time for some _real_ team-building."  
For the remainder of the afternoon, the DS put the platoon through a plethora of different team-building activities, from placing planks down and carrying a barrel across, to navigating through rough terrain while holding balloons in between their sides. By the end of it, the entire team was severely tired out, much to the DS' approval.

"Now _this_ is the pain gain right here." He said.

 _The hell does that even mean?_ James thought, every one of his body parts aching. He was definitely sure this was going to be a long and arduous road from here on.

* * *

 _Week 1, Sunday_

After the Swim Test on Saturday, the platoon had finally reached the end of the first week.

Now, the platoon was in their barracks, and were being taught weapon safety by DS Harden. James looked over the M4A1 in his hands, careful to not put his finger near the trigger. It was at this moment that it really hit him that he was actually in the UFAA, fighting for not only the preservation and protection of the USA, but also to essentially save the world. This overwhelming feeling of righteousness and purpose reinvigorated James, spurring him out of the light depression that had enveloped him from before.

"Alright, croots." The DS began to speak. He had toned down the yelling, as it would not be wise to startle someone while they had a gun in their hands. "This is some pretty basic shit, so let's get it done with. First off, that little curve on the underside of the gun is what you call a 'trigger'-"

As he went through the lesson, one of the DCs brought out a radio and turned it on, the track immediately starting to play 'Brown-Eyed Girl'. Meanwhile, someone tapped on James' shoulder. He turned around to see a girl, looking to be about 18-19, grinning at him. Caucasian, with hazel eyes and brown hair tied back in a bun, she was somewhat attractive.

"Nice to meet ya. Name's Madison. I overheard the other day, while you and those dudes were playin' cards, that you were from Texas. That true?"

James nodded, and Madison grinned.

"Nice to see a fellow Texan."

James grinned. "You're from Texas, too?"

She nodded. "Born and raised, and proud of it too. Where'd you live?"

 _ **OOF!**_

James' smile melted off his face like hot caramel, and he turned his head down.

"Uh...Galveston…"

Madison stopped smiling as she heard this.

"Oh...sorry about that. I heard what happened there." She said, rubbing his back in consolation. Next to James, Monika was staring daggers at Madison.

"But, let's cast that aside fer now. Why'd you join up with the UFAA?"

From there, James began to explain to her about his journey with Monika, who gave a fake smile to Madison as her name was mentioned.

"So you got a friend in here, too, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

Madison leaned back, grabbing the girl next to her and shaking her slightly. The girl yelped slightly at the sudden contact, then looked up at James and Monika. Her hair was black, also tied back in a bun, and seemed to be the standard form of hairstyle for most women here.

"This here's Madeline, my best friend." Madison started, flashing a big smile. "We grew up together in Houston. She may be a bit shy, but she's pretty fun once you get to know her."

"Maddie, why are you doing this to me…" Madeline muttered, shrinking into her fatigues.

"Ah, I see. Well-"

"Hey, bro, you aren't gonna introduce us?"

James turned his head towards Conrado, who was grinning, alongside the other goons.

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot."

"Wow, that's harsh."

"This is Conrado." James pointed to him, to which Conrado made a rock n' roll hand sign and stuck out his tongue. "We call him Connie."

"I'd prefer if you called me Libby, it stands for the _libertas_ that I will endow upon-"

"We call him Connie."

Conrado flashed an irked glance towards James, who ignored it, pointing to Franz.

"That's Franz. Nice guy."

Franz waved nonchalantly.

"Nice to meet you." He said.

"And you's well, bud." Madison responded, smiling.

"...And that's Tolya." James pointed to Tolya, who flashed the rock n' roll sign with both hands, much to Conrado's irritation.

"You just stole my signature hand sign."

"No. I made it better. Also, I don't recall your name being on that hand sign."

"You flash _one extra hand sign_. There is nothing _better_ about that."

"Least my preferred nickname doesn't sound retarded."

"What'd you say, you damn Russkie-"

"Shut the fuck up, guys, unless you want to draw the Drill's attention."

At the mention of DS Harden, both Conrado and Tolya simmered down, instead muttering vague insults about one another. James grinned.

"Yeah, they're pretty interesting pals-"

"Did you seriously forget about me, dude?!"

James heard a voice coming from behind Tolya, and everyone turned their heads to Oswald, whose eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. That short bastard is Oswald-"

"Hey!"

"-And that's about it."

"What kind of introduction was that?!"

"And, uh…"

James looked over at Monika, who was watching the whole interaction quietly.

"This is Monika. She's, uh, been with me for some time now."

Madison nodded, smiling.

"It sounds like you've got a pretty solid composition here. Glad to meet you all."

"Well, it's only been the first week. We got a long way to-"

" **DIPSTICKS, ARE YOU TALKING OVER THE GODDAMN TRAINING LESSON?"**

"NO, SIR!" James and the others responded in unison.

" **THEN SHUT THE FUCK UP AND PAY ATTENTION! IT'S GONNA BE YOUR FAULT IF YOU SHOOT YOUR BALLS OFF BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T KNOW HOW THE SAFETY WORKED!"**

"YES, SIR!"

* * *

 _Week 1, Sunday Evening_

At 8:00 in the evening, the whole platoon was making their way towards what the Drill Sergeant said was 'prayin' time'. A couple of recruits, such as Conrado, spoke up, saying they were Atheist and that they didn't pray. DS Harden shrugged.

"Alright. You don't have to go. We have some alternative assignments, including cleaning the barracks, the toiletries-"

He didn't need to go beyond that before they assured him that was not necessary, and continued along with the platoon.

As James entered the rather large room, he was impressed by the change in atmosphere. Whereas most of the facility they were in was rather dull in decoration (which made sense - this was the military, and unnecessary things were not present in such places), the church itself was well-furbished. Pews lined either side of the room, leaving space for a large walkway up to the altar. Red, carpeted flooring lined every part of the room, save for the wooden steps that led up to the altar. As they were on the second floor of the facility, windows looked out over the courtyard and the training fields on either side. There was no artificial lighting, but rather candles that lined the edges of the room, as well as the light that came in from the windows as the sun began to set, throwing an somewhat-orange tint over the room. At the front, behind the altar, was a tall African American, with greying-black curly hair and a beard, a pair of round rimless glasses seated on his nose. He stood at the altar, reading over something on the podium he stood at.

The platoon filed in, with some people finding their seats, others going up to the reverend to talk. James and Monika found a seat at a pew in the middle of the left side, sitting down next to each other. James planted his elbows on his legs, resting his clenched hands against his head, his eyes closed as he prayed. Meanwhile, Monika sat there, hands clasped between her legs, looking around, unsure of what to do.

After a minute or two, James opened his eyes and dropped his hands, looking up at the cross on the wall behind the altar. Monika noticed tears tracing down the cheeks of his face, and felt a pang in her heart.

"What's wrong, James?"

James glanced over, then back to the cross, wiping his eyes with his arm.

"Nothing, just…thinking."

"...About what?"

James hesitated for a moment, his eyes fixated on the cross.

"...My family. My hometown. Some other stuff."

It was seemingly difficult for him to speak as he reminisced over thoughts unbeknownst to Monika.

"I'm just...hoping they're doing well. In Heaven."

Monika wasn't sure how to answer to that. Her gaze slid down towards the carpet flooring, her mind filling with thoughts.

"...What happened to your parents?"

Silence.

…

…

"My dad, was, um...drafted into the IWA when I was 16. He left me to...take care of my, um, family. My mother was providing for me and my little sister. A couple years later...we were in a hospital, since my...mother...worked as a nurse. But, it was…"

James' gaze hardened as he recalled the tragic events.

"...Invaded. Those _fucking-_ "

He began swearing rapidly but quietly, saying vile things about the SEB. After a few moments, he subsided, grinding his teeth as tears streaked down his face.

"Those SEB b...bastards...took away my family. My _family_. What the...fuck?! Why...I can't possibly understand...They didn't do anything wrong…Nothing…"

James brought his head down slowly, crying into the pew. Monika was deeply saddened by this.

"Then...despite all of that...why do you still believe in God?"

James looked up from the pew, his body shaking with grief, his eyes flooded with tears. Yet, despite all of that, his eyes shone bright with hope and determination.

"You don't understand, Monika. I came to terms with this long ago, after my family died. If God gave us free will, why would He intervene in anything? That would...defeat the purpose of free will…make us robots…"

He took a moment to take a shaky breath.

"Despite the fact that these _bastards_ were able to do this to my family, I realize that they...still made that decision with...free will. I believe God isn't here to intervene on what He thinks is right and wrong...I believe he's waiting in the afterlife, waiting for us."

He put his head back down on the pew, crying quietly. Monika was stunned by this explanation. She had to admit, she had a hateful relationship with God, since she had been trapped in that empty hellhole. But after she heard James' explanation, she was starting to think about how she had been given sentience, given _life_ , despite the dreary circumstances in the other world.

She wasn't one to change her position on that so easily, but...she would consider it.

"Besides, I can't possibly believe that I will never be able to see my family again... I can't."

Monika turned her attention back to James. She felt a swelling in her chest, and so scooted closer to him, enveloping him in her arms. He crumpled into her embrace, sobbing against her chest. She placed her head on his, and the two sat quietly in the church.

* * *

 _Week 2_

" **CONRADO, IF I SEE YOUR DUMB ASS TAKE ANOTHER FUCKING DETOUR AROUND AN OBSTACLE, I'M GONNA STRAP AN EXTRA 40 POUNDS TO YOUR BACK AND MAKE YOU REDO THE COURSE THREE TIMES OVER!"**

The whole platoon had gotten back into the obstacle course, except now they were climbing ropes, swinging over mud pits, scaling towers, and much more. It was a terribly arduous experience for everyone around.

Unfortunately for the rest of the squad, the Drill Sergeant pulled aside James and Monika and told them to refrain from any more, quote, 'Mission Impossible bullshit'. This meant more awkward navigation and suffering all around, much to the Drill Sergeant's content.

* * *

 _Week 3_

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BRATATATATATAT!**_

 _ **BOOM!**_

The week was filled with mainly firearms and explosives training. After James and Monika had been assigned into a fireteam with Oswald and Conrado, each of them had been trained to specialize with their designated squad weapons. James, Monika and Conrado were the designated riflemen, with Conrado designated as fireteam leader, Oswald the machine gunner with an M249 SAW LMG. Monika, the designated grenadier rifleman, had a regular M16 but with a grenade launcher attachment. At first, DS Harden hesitated at the idea of Monika, who already didn't look that capable, wielding the an M16. However, his tune instantly changed when he saw her use it to hit targets with near-perfect accuracy, _on autofire_. James recounted seeing a clipboard fall out of his hand as he witnessed Monika at work.

Meanwhile, James marveled over the M16 in his hands. Although it was a bit disappointing that he could no longer use his father's Lee Enfield, he was admittedly happier to be wielding a more modern weapon now. He looked up to see Oswald and Conrado looking over their own rifles.

On the other hand, the other fireteam, which consisted of Franz, who was designated as the sharpshooter after receiving an exemplary score in marksmanship, looking over Barrett .338 LM in his hands, his eyes lighting up with glee. Anatoliy, who had received the second best score, was paired with the light machine gun, the M249 SAW, and was mostly due to the fact that he was 'tall and looked strong as hell', according to DS Harden.

Then, there was Madison with the M16 and Beretta M9, and second designated fireteam leader, and finally Madeline with an AT-4. She was utterly intimidated by the idea of carrying a rocket launcher around, but eventually got used to it after firing launchers a few times.

As the squad was practicing with their weapons, James glanced over to his side to notice someone walking into the training session. Looking rather skittish, his eyes darted from side to side. He was rather small, standing at around 5'5", without too much outward protruding muscle, and the helmet and clothes he was wearing looked a bit oversized for him.

" **STAND UP, CROOTS!"**

The DS' voice rang out, somehow drowning out even the gunfire with its sheer volume. Immediately, the entire squad stopped what they were doing and stood up, facing at attention to the Drill Sergeant. As he found to have their attention, he pointed to the skittish person that James had seen earlier.

"This is your field medic. He will be in your squad. If any you are dumb enough to get shot, he's gonna be the one to _maybe_ save your ass. That's all."

 _That guy, huh?_ James thought, a bit dissuaded by the medic's behavior. The guy looked squirrely, enough that it made James think that he was gonna run from the battlefield more so than help the wounded. He also recalled Conrado having offered to be the field medic for the squad, but the DS denied it, stating they already had one coming up. That didn't stop Conrado, though, who immediately began receiving training as a secondary field medic at his own request.

"So, you're our field medic, huh?" Oswald started, walking over to the medic and sticking out his hand, holding his M16 in his other hand, and grinning. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Oswald. It's great to see another shorty in the squad."

The field medic gave a nervous smile, reaching out to shake his hand. He responded in a high-pitched, jittery tone.

"H-Hi, nice to-to meet you...I'm Daniel. Daniel, um, Scaletti."

"Nice to meet ya, Danny."

"Danny! Nice name. I remember some kid in my 5th grade had that name, real psycho, though."

"Scaletti? Sounds Italian. Like a good sandwich on a Sunday morning."

The whole squad chimed in to greet Daniel, who seemed to lose a little of his nervous state. Yet his eyes continued to dart around, as if was watching for a predator in the shadows.

"Well that was awkward as HELL. I'll leave you nerds to get back to it."

With that, the DS turned on his heel and walked back down the range, yelling at the unfortunate recruits that caught his attention.

"So...Danny, eh?" Tolya chimed in.

Daniel looked like he wanted to say something, but decided to nod his head instead.

"Yep. That's, uh, me."

"Hmm…."

Tolya swaggered over, looking the young man over, who shrunk downwards as the 6'4" tall Russian wielding a light machine gun like water bottle leaned over. Danny looked like he was about to take flight, his eyes darting around, seemingly for an opportunity to escape.

"...Glad to have you on the team!"

"Gl-glad that I'm n-not on the other side."

Tolya laughed heartily, delivering a hard slap to Danny's back. Danny fell over as the giant palm nearly collapsed his spine, at least that was how it felt as his entire back reverberated from the sheer force of the casual pat. He felt all the oxygen leave his lungs prematurely, leaving him to temporarily choke on death. Luckily, the black spots disappeared from his eyes in only a moment, and he got back up, smiling at Tolya, terror in his eyes.

"So, what guns're you using?"

Danny's head darted towards Franz, who was eyeing him carefully, seeming to measure him up. Danny didn't feel great as he saw Franz' eyes glaze over in disinterest after only a few seconds.

"Um...I-I'm using the, uh, Beretta M9. S-support role and all, you know..."

The squad nodded their heads. However, most of them were losing their interest, eager to get back to their shooting.

…

…

"Okay, I'll, uh, leave you guys to it-"

"Yep."

"Yeah."

"Alright, bye."

After the awkward exchange, the medic scurried away from the shooting range, and the squad resumed their shooting. Meanwhile, Monika turned to James.

"Is he going to be training with us?"

James shrugged.

"I have no idea."

* * *

 _Week 4_

Turned out, he was going to be training with them.

" _ **LEFT! RIGHT! LEFT! RIGHT AGAIN- GODDAMNIT, DARNELL, WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING STUPID?! I SAID RIGHT AGAIN!"**_

"S-SORRY, SIR-"

" _ **IT'S DRILL SERGEANT, NOT SIR, YOU SHITWAGON!"**_

The entire platoon was enjoying a lovely, intense set of drill training from the Drill Sergeant, who made it his prime duty to try and get at least one recruit to break down crying. A true deviant, this Drill Sergeant.

* * *

 _Week 5_

"Monika, you take point. James and Conrado, behind her."

"Got it."

"Yeah."

"Copy."

"Stop trying to be fancy, Connie."

"What, I can't say 'copy'? That's what they do in, like, actual combat."

Madison was assembling the squad into a breach formation during breaching training, the mainstay of training for the 5th week. Currently, they were prepping in front of an abandoned three-story building just outside of the boot camp.

"Alright, Connie, line up behind James, as you're gonna be fireteam leader of the squad when you're leading the breach."

"10-4."

"For fuck's sake, Connie."

"Come on! That's a military code!"

"It's police code, you dumbfuck- look, just get in line!"

After Connie grumbled something, he moved in behind James, the muzzle of his rifle pointed towards the ground. The squads' rifles were replaced with simunitions, or guns that were specifically made for simulation of firefights, and were loaded with special bullets that put a mark on things that it impacted. The rifles the squad was carrying had blue barrels, handguards, grips and magazines.

"Alright, Oswald and Tolya, you guys take up the back. You're gonna be watching their backs as they move in with the LMGs."

"Got it."

"Copy-er, I mean yeah." Oswald stumbled. Connie glanced over to Madison with a grin.

"Told ya."

"Shut up. Franz, Madeline, you guys take up the other side of the door."

They nodded. For this training, the two couldn't use their specialized weapons since this was close quarters.

"Copy."

"Copy."

Madison sighed. It seemed the squad was starting to catch on to this ridiculous saying.

"Alright. Breach on my mark."

Everyone tensed up with their rifles, ready to breach. Madison got in front of the door.

"BREACH!"

Immediately, she thrusted her foot forward, kicking near the lock.

 _ **BOOSH!**_

The door flew open inwardly, the lock busted. Usually, the best thing for breaches like this would be using a sawed-off shotgun to blow off the handle. However, for the exercise it wasn't necessary and was a waste of bullets.

As soon as it swung open, Monika moved in, sweeping her gun across one part of the room, while Franz and Madeline moved up alongside the wall of the inner room.

 _Bang!_

Within milliseconds of seeing her first target, one of the trainers with a gun pointed at her from behind an overturned couch, she pulled the trigger, shooting him in the head. Luckily, he was wearing a full-face helmet, and so fell over as he took the shot to the face.

"Tango down!" Monika shouted.

Meanwhile, Franz kept moving up the left wall, arriving at a cutoff of the corner. Rounding the corner, Franz scanned the room, seeing another overturned couch and table, both of which were manned by a single enemy each.

 _Bang!_

 _Bang!_

Franz shot the first man, and the second one shot at him, hitting the wall next to him. Madeline came up behind him, shooting the second enemy, who fell over dramatically.

"Room clear-"

 _Bang!_

"Ah, shit!"

Franz fell over as one of the simunition bullets hit him in the shoulder. Another enemy had rounded the corner, and was firing at those breaching. Madeline quickly pulled up her gun and shot at the enemy, missing a couple shots before hitting him in the stomach. He fell to the ground, dropping his gun.

"Franz is down!" Madeline shouted. "Need backup here!"

"Sending James and Oswald!"

Madeline found cover behind one of the tables, waiting shortly for the two to round the corner. When they did, she looked over, nodding, to which they nodded back.

"One more room and a staircase. Which do you think should be picked first?"

"I dunno. You're the new fireteam leader, right?" James responded. Madeline felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

"R-Right. Sorry."

She got up and headed towards the door, with James watching the staircase for any arriving enemies and Oswald watching the way from whence they came. She twisted the knob, keeping her gun up.

 _Swoosh!_

The door flew open to reveal an empty room. Madeline sighed in relief.

"Room clear!"

Madeline came back to the staircase, and James led the search upstairs, directing his rifle towards the turn as Madelin watched the railing above.

Meanwhile, James could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from across the building, with Monika and the others most likely taking down the enemies.

As they got to the second floor, James scanned the hallway, and quickly noted four door, two lining the left and right sides of the room.

"4 doors."

"Copy. Pick one to clear first."

James immediately opted for the closest one, which was the door right next to the staircase. He took up a position next to the door, with Madeline on the other side, rifle lowered and Oswald watching the staircase.

"Ready?" James asked. Madeline nodded.

James tried to open the door, to no avail. He sighed.

"Here we go."

In a moment, he stood in front of the door, then launched a kick forward, near the lock. However, he was off-balance, and so his foot slipped off of the knob, causing him to do a shitty spin kick and fall to the floor. He could hear Madeline and Oswald snickering.

"Shut the hell up."

Scrambling up, he tried again, this time successfully hitting near the lock.

 _ **BOOSH!**_

The door flew open-

"SHIT!"

Just in time, James dove out of the way to see an enemy holding a rifle up, aimed at the door, firing at James, who managed to evade just as the bullet came whizzing by. Madeline pointed her rifle at the enemy and fired a couple rounds, hitting the enemy in the chest. The cloaked trainer fell backwards, dropping his gun.

"You okay, James?'  
James nodded as Madeline came over, taking her hand to get up.

"Let's continue."

With that, James and Madeline cleared the rest of the rooms, with only one other room containing three enemies. At the same time, Oswald mowed down two enemies rushing up the stairs.

After a couple more minutes of breaching, the exercise was finally finished, with the screeching of a bell ringing from downstairs.

Everyone came down to the bottom level, with Franz, Conrado and Anatoliy having been hit. As the Drill Sergeant spotted Conrado, who was absolutely peppered with bullets, he laughed raucously.

"You look like you got Bonnie and Clyde'd."

Conrado muttered something as he walked out of the building with everyone else. After a few more moments, everyone was gathered outside in front of the Drill Sergeant.

"You've already gone through this a couple times before, and you all still suck dick at this. Though, if there's one redeeming trait, it's that it seems your teamwork has improved. Better than when a single enemy wiped out the whole team because _someone_ wasn't watching everyone's flank."

Anatoliy shrank down into his armor.

"As for individual estimations: Franz, you got shot early into the breach, though I will let you go on the fact that the enemy I had planted there was meant to be _very_ unexpected. However, the battlefield is always unpredictable, so account for it anyways. Oswald, good job on watching the flank. I was sure that those two enemies coming up were gonna take your ass down." The DS muttered that last part. "James and Madeline, damn good job on breaching, especially with the four doors at the top. That's usually challenging, considering how hard it is to account for _four_ locked doors with only kicking breaches."

At that, Madeline smiled at James, who smiled back. Monika noticed this interaction, her face unchanging, though her fist was clenched tightly.

"Conrado, your dumb ass ran into the room _way_ too ahead of your teammates, so you didn't have any covering fire when you emerged into the dining hall with over _six barricaded enemies._ You're too eager, wait for your friends to catch up. Anatoliy, you did well until your gaze slipped away from looking down both ways of the corridor you were in. Always keep a watchful eye. Madison, good work watching over the squad from behind. And Monika-"

The Drill Sergeant turned to Monika entirely.

"-I have no fucking idea how you got to be so damn accurate, but your shots were terrifying. You hit _every single target_ the squad encountered from the front _with headshots_ , and you picked up the slack after Conrado went down. You cleared every single corner and hit _every single enemy_ before they could even react with gunfire. For the first time in my career….I am speechless."

Monika felt a surge of happiness as everyone turned their heads towards her, newfound respect and awe in their eyes, and glanced over at James, who was grinning.

"But don't get a hubris. If anything, that is the most likely factor to kill such deadly accuracy and reflex time. Keep humble and continue on like this, and you'll get every damn sharpshooter medal there is."

Monika nodded, smiling.

"Alright, with that said, it's getting to be about time for lunch. Everyone, put your gear down on the table, and we'll head to the grub hall."

* * *

 _Week 6_

"FINALLY! Some damn rest." Conrado shouted in relief as he plopped himself down in the one of the armchairs of the rest hall.

This week, the recruits were getting an entire day off from their intense training regime. James, Monika, Anatoliy, Madison, Madeline, Conrado and Oswald were using this time to chill out in the rest hall, which was in the same room as the dining hall. Franz opted out, insisting he needed to hone his sharpshooter skills, much to Conrado's sarcasm.

"Dude, you can already hit a fly's left nut from a mile away, what are you trying to reach for now? Hitting the atoms of a grain of sand?" Was one reputable quote.

They all took up chairs in front of a rather large TV, which was tuned in on some Looney Tunes cartoon portraying one of the characters as a SEB soldier being taken on by the IWA.

"So, you guys wanna play some more cards?" Conrado inquired, whipping out a pack of cards and laying it on the table. A couple of the group nodded, with others zoning out.

"Sounds like a yes."

With that, the group played a variety of games with the cards, chatting and such. Over time, the games somehow became more competitive, with the group eventually yelling and arguing with each other over a particular game of 'Go-Fish'.

"You can't keep asking me for damn cards, Maddie!" Tolya argued, slamming his small pair of cards down on the table. "Ask someone else for those card's, for fuck's sake!"

"Look, just because I successfully got your Kings, and Queens, _and_ Aces, _and_ Fives, _AND_ Sixes doesn't mean I am not gonna finish the mothafuckin' job!"

Just as there was getting to be a heated debate between those two, a courier-looking individual came up with a canvas sling bag, then proceeded to hand out newspapers to the group. Everyone flipped through the newspapers, reading the various topics. Monika read a particular article detailing the SEB's growing beachhead on Galveston after their surprise invasion. She noticed James gripping his newspaper tightly, seemingly having set his eyes on the same article.

Beyond that, a few notable events had transpired. A giant explosion in London had killed thousands of civilians, injuring tens of thousands more, and most likely the work of SEB terrorists. Monika heard grumbling from Tolya to her right, and glanced over to see his face contorted in anger.

"Fucking scum...they don't have any morals, do they?" He muttered to himself.

Aside from that, there was also sabotage in the US, much to everyone's shock. A major power outage had occurred in Portland, Oregon, and upon investigation seemed to have been sabotaged. Only days later did they discover a 45-year old man having been found after evidence was gathered, and he confessed, breaking down and shouting about the SEB 'holding his daughters hostage'. He was put on trial and was put into a local prison.

Monika reminisced over this. She could definitely understand the terrible idea of someone close being kidnapped and held hostage by the SEB and asking for her to betray her own country.

The last notable note was the mysterious occurrences happening in the Atlantic Ocean. Apparently, giant shadowy masses were reported moving underneath passing ships, possibly newfound species of fish, most terrifying in thought.

"Maybe they got awakened by all of this war going on." Conrado said out loud.

As everyone put down the newspapers, the atmosphere had become a lot more grim, as the group digested the news they had read about.

…

…

…

"So, uh, got any Jacks?"


	12. Boot Camp - Part 2

_Week 7_

"Great. Can't wait to get gassed."

The group had been brought into a chamber for tear gas training, in which it would be deployed while they wore their masks. Then, the Drill Sergeants would order them to take off their masks, leaving them to suck in the fumes, all while making them put them back on, ask them questions, and make them do basic exercises. It was going to be 'hell in a handbasket', according to DS Harden.

Everyone was gathered together inside the concrete chamber, waiting for-

 _Tssssss._

Without any warning whatsoever, canisters of tear gas were thrown in, the pins already pulled. The whole group panicked, with some of them falling back in surprise and others inching away from the gas.

" _ **THIS AIN'T NO TIME FOR FUCKIN' AROUND, RECRUITS! TIME FOR THE HELLISH PART!"**_

Just as everyone was in pandemonium, the Drill Sergeant, along with his cohorts, had stormed in, gas masks on, which distorted his voice.

From there, the Drill Sergeants proceeded to order the group to take off their masks, then put them back on, along with performing calisthenics and dealing with verbal quizzes. Five minutes in, Madeline had fainted, Tolya had fallen to his knees, and Franz was stumbling around wildly.

"I can't feel my lungs…" He muttered.

"What a...stupid fucking….statement…" Conrado uttered, nearly in the same state as Franz.

* * *

Later in the week, James' platoon had been gathered a couple miles away from the training compound, on the side of the woods. The Drill Sergeants were gathered up front.

" _ **ALRIGHT, LISTEN UP, DING-DONGS..."**_ DS Harden shouted, his voice clearly carrying across the entire platoon. Conrado nodded his head in surprise.

"Wow. That's, like, the first insult he's used that didn't include some form of a curse word-"

" _ **YOU FUCKHEADS HAVE A SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT TODAY!"**_

"...Nevermind…"

" _ **YOU'RE GONNA PAIR UP INTO GROUPS OF TWO, WITH EACH GROUP BEING GIVEN A STANDARD AMOUNT OF FOOD AND WATER. ONCE THIS IS DONE, YOU WILL ALL TREK ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTY OVER THE COURSE OF TWO DAYS. IN THAT TIME, IT IS**_ _ **STRONGLY**_ _**RECOMMENDED THAT YOU PROPERLY RATION YOUR RATIONS, SO THAT YOU AVOID STARVATION OR EXTREME THIRST, BECAUSE I GUA-RAN-TEE YOU WILL REGRET NOT DOING SO IN THE ACTUAL SCENARIO!"**_

The platoon shuffled around, everyone's nerves on edge.

"Now come up to get your rations, fuckfaces!"

* * *

 _3 hours later…_

Monika and James, of course, had paired up, and were trekking down a trail, both of them carrying their rations. James however, being the gentleman he was raised to be, insisted he carry some of her rations so she wouldn't have to strain. Monika obliged, handing part of the load to him, which made James feel good about himself.

He didn't feel too good about that after hours of traveling on the dirt road. It took considerable willpower for him not to groan from the pain in his aching feet and complain out loud.

The trip, thus far, was quite awkward. Oddly, to the two of them it felt like the dynamic was...off.

Birds chirped, leaves blew ever so slightly in the calming wind, the sun shined brightly over the forest, its rays breaking through the tall treetops. Shrubbery was sparse, if there was any at all, with most of the forest being open ground and leaves lying on the floor.

Monika took all of this in, feeling truly at peace with the world. She could still not get over the fact that she had been granted all of this beauty by the one person that she had alienated. And due to that, despite the tranquil and beautiful scenery, she just couldn't truly appreciate it right now.

Occasionally, she would glance over at James, her mind racing with ideas on how to get their dynamic back to normal, how she could get him to move past that terrible incident involving her. And yet, there seemed to be no clear solution.

"Hey, Monika."

Monika glanced over with a smile, jubilant that James was finally speaking to her again.

"Yes, James?"

"Do you have values?"

Monika was slightly thrown off by that question, but she thought about it for a moment.

"Well...yes."

"...What kind?"

"Well, I um...I value life, and cherish every moment of it. I think that-"

"That's not what I mean. I'm asking, do you have _morals_?"

After hearing that, Monika had thought it would be an easy question to answer.

Yet just as she was about to speak, no words could come out. She...had no answer.

This lack of an response upset her deeply. This entire time spent outside of that _hellhole_ , and she had not once considered what morals to develop? What lines to draw?

It was at this point that she reflected on how depraved she had acted over the past few months. Mercilessly hacking into that SEB soldier's arm with an axe with little mental shock, Holding Carlos in contempt during his weak moment when they had first met him, Stabbing that innocent waitress in the eye...putting James in danger at the bar….the incident….

"Oh my god…"

James was surprised to hear crying from his left and turned his head to see Monika, head bent downward, tears dripping off of her face as they kept walking down the path. He felt his heart squeeze from hearing the heart-wrenching sobbing from Monika.

"Oh my god...James...am I...a bad person?"

 _Jesus Christ_ , James thought to himself. His chest tightened at hearing that statement.

"I...I've done so much wrong...even to those in the past…"

At sudden, Monika dropped to her knees, her face in her hands. James rushed over, dropping his backpack and running his arm over her shoulders. She crumpled against his chest, crying softly.

"N-No, you're not a bad person, Monika. You're not. You, um,

" _How?_ I've done so many _horrible_ things to people…Sayori...Natsuki...Yuri…"

James remembered hearing those names back when Monika had told him about her bizarre past, but he didn't bother to comment on it, staying silent as Monika spoke through sobbing.

"I don't...want to….be like this, James…I don't want to...be like this…"

"You won't...You won't, Monika...okay?...You won't…"

The two sat there, amidst the chirping of the birds, the swaying of the leaves, the shining sun.

Weeping.

* * *

Turns out, the course was relatively easy. The vast majority of recruits had gotten by with rationing their food well, save for the small amount that had somehow screwed up by dropping it, or some other ridiculous explanation, to which the Drill Sergeant yelled at the ones who fucked up for 'having more mental problems than a fully-stocked short bus', according to the DS.

As the entire group trudged back to the previous spot, the Drill Sergeant shook his head in disappointment.

"Looks like we got a lot of fatties in this platoon."

* * *

 _Week 8_

"And here we have the use of muskets being employed during the 1700s, their smoothbore barrels massively gaining popularity- HEY! CONNIE! YOU BETTER BE WRITING NOTES ON THAT PIECE OF PAPER!"

"Oh, I am, Drill Sergeant!"

"Lemme see it!"

"...Shit."

Currently, the group was taking classes on Weapons Theory, Field Strategy, and several other subjects pertaining to war. It was the more boring part of the week, but it definitely contained only useful information, from what James had taken in so far.

However, he had gotten particularly stuck on one of the topic ideas. He glanced over at Monika, who was absorbing the information like a sponge. James swore he could see a database being run through the glint in her eyes.

"Hey, uh, Monika-"

"Yes?"

Monika turned her head, gazing at James with a bright smile. James was thrown off by her sudden response.

"I, um, need help with the, um, social psychology thing. Can you help me out here?"

Monika's face lit up like a lightbulb, and she moved in closer to him, causing him to tense up.

"Sure! So, essentially, what this means is-"

As she touched his elbow, he jumped in alarm, then seemed to contain himself as he looked over at her.

"Um...sorry...continue?"

Monika tilted her head in confusion, but then it clicked in her head. James had acted the same way at the house, right after the incident. The fact that he had not yet put that past them saddened her, but regardless she was glad he was making an effort to try and normalize their relationship again. Aside from that, however, there was another pressing matter.

In terms of her own mental health, she was fairly concerned. From all of that pain she had taken on, especially getting shot in the head and then resurrecting, feeling her brain trying to put itself back together…

Her mind had been pushed over the limit with the pain tolerance, and had already snapped once. The last thing she wanted was to try testing the boundaries again, much less breaking them. Her biggest fear was that if she went through too much pain, too many times…

She could lose her mind, with little chance of recovery.

She reflected upon this solemnly, as one of the main things she wanted was to make James happy, to grow up and have a family with him, to grow old…She certainly didn't want to snuff that dream out.

Thus, she was utterly determined that, despite her seemingly invincible condition, she would balance self-preservation with protecting James.

* * *

 _Week 9_

Now was the event in which many had dreaded, in which those with an innate fear of heights had nightmares about in their barrack beds…

The High Wire Confidence Course.

As the platoon trudged down the muddy path, the sky overhead was gloomy and dreary, matching the moods of particular individuals who despised this course. All the while, Drill Sergeant Harden was posing a gleaming smile as he looked over the recruits.

"This is gonna be... _great_."

Finally, they had arrived at the giant tower, which was accompanied by a web of ropes, wires, and other structures and mechanisms resembling a giant course for climbing heights.

"I didn't sign up for this…" Franz muttered, looking up at the course, fear in his eyes.

After a certain distance, the DS turned around on his heel and brought his hand up.

" _ **HALT, MAGGOTS!"**_

"Been a long time since we've heard that one…" Conrado muttered.

The Drill Sergeant peered over at Conrado, who looked off to the side and whistling. He had briefly forgotten about the DS' ungodly hearing abilities.

" _ **NOW LISTEN UP, BUTTERCUPS!"**_ The Drill Sergeant started. " _ **YOU ARE ALL GONNA BE DOING THIS COURSE WITH HOPEFULLY MINIMAL DURESS! YOU WILL PAIR UP IN GROUPS OF TWO AND SOMETIMES FOUR TO NAVIGATE. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT FALLING AND BREAKING YOUR NECKS, THUS ENDING YOUR MISERABLE, PATHETIC LIVES, AS YOU WILL BE HOOKED ONTO A ROPE, AND THERE WILL BE SAFETY NETS BELOW! UNDERSTOOD?"**_

" **YES, SIR!"**

The Drill Sergeant almost jumped in surprise. Their shouting had improved, both in unison and volume. He admired that. Of course, he couldn't tell them that.

" _ **ALRIGHTY THEN, LET'S GET ONTO IT!"**_

* * *

"Tolya, I can't do this."

"Come on, Franz, you can! Just look up at-"

"Scheisse, look how far up we are! SCHEISSE!"

"Stop looking at the ground, dumbass!"

The whole platoon had climbed up the mesh of rope that led up to the tower, and after putting on their safety gear, began navigating the course, performing various exercises such as pushing on each other's hands over a gap in the walkway while tiptoeing across the planks.

Franz took another look at the ground, visibly sweating and shaking as he did so.

"This is too much."

Tolya, his partner, was sighing. Of course, he was reasonable nervous of being so high up, but Franz' fear was beyond irrational, considering the safety measures put in place.

"Franz, there's a safety net. We're good-"

"What if it breaks? What if the wire holding me up snaps and then I fall through and snap my neck?!"

"How unrealistic…"

Meanwhile, James himself, while navigating with Monika, had not realized until now just how much he hated being so high up. Of course, his fear didn't even approach Franz', but he was definitely shaking at the idea of being high in the air. Taking another look down, his fear almost multiplied, as his eyes seemed to multiply the distance downward.

"Fuck….fuck….fuckIdon'tlikethis…"

"James."

James' brought his head up slowly, looking at Monika, who was watching him with a calm expression.

"It's not as bad as it seems."

"Easy for you to say! You can't-"

James held back his tongue, realizing what he was about to say out loud, in front of the other recruits. Monika smiled, brushing aside the unfinished remark.

"James, just look at me. Look in my eyes."

"Okay...okay…"

As James repeated this mantra to himself, he looked into Monika's eyes.

Upon making eye contact, he suddenly felt transfixed, lured in by those shifting emerald-green eyes. They were almost shining. Beyond that, it felt like James was looking into a kaleidoscope, the shapes inside moving and twirling around ever so slightly. Beyond that, there was a look of pain, of horror, of trauma. Deep within, there were the fragments of terror and overwhelming fear, the times in reliving whatever terrible, cruel, _evil_ place she had come from-

"Alright, we're done."

Without even realizing it, they had crossed over the gap almost instantly, at least it felt that way to James.

"Oh...wow…"

"See? That wasn't so hard." Monika said, beaming a smile at James. He was, on the other hand, very disturbed and concerned by what he had seen.

"Monika, are you-"

" _ **ALRIGHT, IT'S BEEN LONG ENOUGH, SHITHEADS! GET DOWN FROM THERE SO WE CAN HEAD BACK FOR THE DAY!"**_

Monika turned her head, as did everyone else, towards the abrupt sound of the Drill Sergeant, who was signaling with his hands for everyone to get down.

"Looks like we gotta go."

"Yeah, but…" James stopped his sentence, looking at Monika with worry.

He needed to talk to her.

* * *

 _Later, in the night…_

Fort Langley, unbeknownst to James until the third week, apparently had a cafe of sorts, and looked amazingly well-decorated and furnished compared to most other parts of the fort. However, most people didn't have time in the starting weeks to go visit the cafe, mainly because of training, and so it was only when the weeks drew close to graduation that recruits would start visiting the cafe.

When _Monika_ had found out there was a cafe, she had urged James to take her almost everyday since the week she found out, and it terribly tired James. Finally, on the ninth week on Friday, a couple hours after the High Wire Confidence Course, he had opted to take her there.

As they walked in, James glanced over to see Monika's eyes glimmer with happiness. She clasped her hands in delight, and was about to turn to kiss James on the cheek when he brought his hand up. From day one, since some people had started noticing how close-knit the two were, James could feel the angry, seething stares from particular males, as he knew that they were all either jealous for him bringing his 'friend' into the army, or angry because they believed it would distract and disrupt the training. The latter part of those reasons was mostly mirrored by the Drill Sergeants, who kept mumbling about the two being a 'potential problem' for the platoon.

Thus, James had found it to be of top priority that he and Monika not make any sort of romantic, flirtatious, or...sexual suggestions or interactions so as to not piss off every single person in the fort. After a couple weeks of the two sticking with the 'purely friends' plan, people no longer flashed glares or muttered obscenities under their breaths.

Of course, it did not make James feel good about himself as Monika's gleeful expression melted slightly as she once again realized that they had to keep up the act. Despite that, she was still radiating happiness.

"Let's find a table, shall we?"

After picking a booth that looked out over the courtyard and ordering their food (which was paid for by ration cards that were distributed weekly, for food besides the cafeteria), James sat with his elbows on the table, his hands clasped around his mouth, his eyes directed to the side. Meanwhile, Monika sat there, arms laid flat on the table, rocking in her seat slightly, her eyes gazing out the window in an almost blissful expression.

If James was being completely honest with himself, he never got used to thinking about him and Monika romantically. There were a rare amount of times when James found an interest in a woman, and it was usually a city girl who never stayed around. Besides that, James could be considered pretty seclusive, at least before he went through this whole debacle.

"Hey, um…" James started, trying to gather up the courage to start speaking to Monika. She flicked her eyes towards him, smiling. She always seemed to have a smile on her face.

"Yes, James?"

"...You shouldn't, uh, put your arms on the table like, uh, that. You could get germs."

"Oh." Monika looked down, then slid her arms off the table, placing them in her lap. "Didn't realize that. Thanks, James."

"...No problem."

 _Damn it, James!_ He thought, chiding himself. _You should address that event from-wait, am I actually just thinking out loud right now? Ew, stop._

"So, um, Monika...I do want to talk to you about something."

Monika made eye contact with him and yet again he seemed to get transfixed on those shifting, green eyes-

"No, no." James muttered to himself, shaking his head. Monika tilted hers in concern.

"Is something wrong?"

"U-Uh, no, sorry, that was...just…" James cleared his throat, realizing how awkward he was making this.

 _Just get on with it,_ He thought once more.

"Listen...are you...okay?"

Monika tilted her head once more, this time in curiosity.

"What do you mean, James?"

"I mean...look, when I looked into your eyes during that, uh, rope session, I saw… a lot. And I mean some _very_ concerning undertones. Now, I'm not some guru or psychic, but I feel like, even despite all the fucked-up shit you've told me about, that I haven't quite understood what...happened to you until I looked into your eyes."

Monika's blissful expression dropped, almost a poker-face, save for the subtle tones of melancholy in her facial features. Her gaze slid back towards the courtyard.

"I….yes." She didn't seem to know what to say, and so kept silent.

"You're hiding a lot...of pain, it seems."

"..."

"Well, to be honest, I dunno how I can help you. It, um, seems like this pain is from a problem in your past. And from all that you've been telling me over the course of our time together, it especially seems like you think you did some _really_ bad things. I have no idea what, but I honestly do not care."

James reached out with one hand, softly grabbing the fingertips of the hand that Monika was letting rest on the table. He could see her flinch for a moment at the contact, then return to a resting state. She continued to stare out the window.

"Monika, I want you to know that no matter what happens, I _will_ help you. I _will_ protect you, even if you think you can handle it, or that you can carry these burdens on your back."

Monika's gaze slide towards James, and her face was beginning to twitch, tears beginning to swell in her eyes.

"I don't care what you did in your past. What's done is done. All that matters now is that we stick together."

Monika nodded quietly, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"Okay."

"Alrighty, here's your orders."

James almost hopped in fright at hearing the sudden voice of the waiter.

"Ah, y-yes, of course…"

The waiter placed a plate with a cheeseburger in front of James, who salivated over it. This entire week, he had been forced to eat MRE rations, which were bland as hell, so it was utterly satisfying to be able to feast upon-

"Wait, Monika, you ordered _pancakes?"_ James exclaimed, seeing the waiter place an entire stack of pancakes in front of Monika, who licked her lips.

"Of course, James. What's the matter?"

"It's 9:00 at night! Why are they even serving pancakes at night?!"

* * *

 _Week 10_

This week, James' squad was going over first aid as their main course. James found it funny that they scheduled First Aid near the end of the basic training regime.

During the class, Conrado raised his hand, to which the Drill Sergeant pointed to him.

"Drill Sergeant, if we have field medics, why do we need to learn this stuff?" He inquired.

"You dumb fucking numbskull, what happens if your medic is shot?"

Classic.

* * *

 _Week 11_

Sunday, the final day before the week of graduation. The platoon shuffled into the church as per usual, with people finding seats, others chatting, a few going up to the altar to make donations.

Meanwhile, James and Monika were sitting in the pews, the same position they had for the past eleven weeks. Both deep in thought.

"I see you two are doing some thinking, huh?" Interjected the priest, whom James had immediately identified. He had talked to the priest several times before, sometimes confessing, other times venting.

His kind eyes looked down upon the two, his smile bathing James in reassurance. He smiled back.

"Nice to see you again, Pastor Walker."

"The same here, my friend." The Pastor glanced over at Monika, who was gazing at him with a wary expression. He grinned.

"It seems I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting you, missus. May I know your name?"

"Monika Robinson."

"Frederick Walker. A pleasure."

Monika nodded silently.

"So…" Frederick plopped himself down onto the seat next to James, resting against it. "Graduation is nigh. You two must be very excited."

James and Monika nodded, both of them smiling. The Pastor smiled back, and yet as he seemed to reflect on something, his smile shook a bit, which disturbed James.

"Well, that's good. I'm glad...glad that you are serving our country. I mean, you _are_ saving the world after all…"

The pastor seemed to have trouble speaking as he went on, and James noticed that his whole body was shaking.

"I'm...glad that...you guys are…"

Finally, the pastor's smile dropped, tears filling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, James...Monika...you should not be having to deal with this war...to fight in such a cruel war at such...a young age."

James was a bit alarmed by the pastor's crying. It was relatively the same as when he saw Carlos crying.

"I just...I truly hope that you two, and everyone else in this god-awful war makes it out alive, and that a tragedy like this never happens again."

With that the pastor got up, turning around and heading back for the altar when he stopped for a moment, turning his head back slightly.

"...Let us hope to prevail, eh?"

* * *

 _Week 12_

Finally, the week had come.

Graduation.

The Drill Sergeant had made extra sure that the recruits got to bed extra early last night, then up extra early to put on their ceremonial graduation uniforms. After several complaints about the tightness of the uniform, everyone had donned their dazzling uniforms, which elicited plenty of white and blue.

The recruits began marching in lines out of the barracks and onto the frontal courtyard, where there were hundreds of other military members, all in the same uniforms, were lined up in front of a set-up wooden platform and podium, with American flags on either side. Conrado whistled.

"Damn. I didn't even know that this many went to this fort."

Finally, Harden's platoon lined up alongside another.

" _ **FRONT FACE!"**_

The sound of dozens of heels clicking was audible as the entire platoon turned towards the podium in unison. James could see Colonel Matthews, standing in a ceremonial uniform. In front of him was a microphone. After a few more minutes of organization, everyone fell silent, waiting for the person at the podium to speak. On the side, another individual spoke into a separate microphone.

"Ladies and Gentleman, we have here Colonel Matthews, leader of the 214th Infantry Division of the UFAA."

"Recruits of the UFAA...It is my pleasure to announce that all of you have successfully passed basic training for the United Force of Armed Americans. Before we officially promote to you to the rank of Private, you will take the Oath of Enlistment."

With that, Matthews raised his right hand, with everyone in line raising theirs as well.

"I, state your name…."

" **I…"** Everyone stated their names.

"Do solemnly swear…"

" **Do solemnly swear…"**

"That I will support and defend…"

" **That I will support and defend…"**

"The Constitution of the United States…"

" **The Constitution of the United States…"**

"Against all enemies…"

" **Against all enemies…"**

"Foreign and domestic…"

" **Foreign and domestic…"**

By the end of it, being 'So help me God', Colonel Matthews finally lowered his hand, then smiled.

"Congratulations, soldiers. Welcome to the UFAA."

With that final remark, the entire formation roared, throwing their hats into the air. Everyone began hugging each other, patting each other on the back, and a band out of sight of James began playing upbeat military music. He grinned as he and his squad began hugging each other.

"Fuck yeah! Time to kill some Commie scum!" Conrado yelled.

Everyone chimed in agreeance with that statement, and another roar of happiness and accomplishment rang throughout the courtyard.

James and Monika looked to each other, and just as James thought he was going to see jubilance, he was alarmed to see her staring at the ground, dread in her eyes…

"Hey, James, man, congratulations! It's about time we head off to serve our country!"

James felt Conrado tackle him, shaking him around wildly as he whooped and hoo-rah'ed, along with the others. James took one more look around at his squad members.

Franz, Conrado, Tolya, Oswald, Madison, Madeline…

James grinned. Despite Monika's downtrodden state, for whatever reason, James was excited, overjoyed even.

Finally, he was ready to serve his country.

* * *

 _Upcoming_ _- **Chapter 13 - The Frontline**_

* * *

 **Author Notes**

\- I cannot possibly stress enough how long this took. The research, the writings, the character development...regardless, here it is. I hope you enjoyed it.

\- If you get reposted emails, it is because, for some odd reason, everytime I edit a chapter, it resends the email on a new updated chapter. Thus, I will try not to re-edit as much as possible.


	13. The Frontline (Pt 1)

_Wow. It's been quite a bit, hasn't it? Well, I am back, but don't expect this to happen a lot more. I am currently working on an animated series on YouTube that will follow the premise of these fics that I write, including Worlds Collide, World At War, Depravity Falls, and (possibly) Reality of Today._

 _I got a LOT on my plate, so I can't necessarily set a date for when everything comes out. After all, you can't rush trash._

 _Or perfection._

 _There are two kinds of people._

 _With that said, enjoy the chapter._

* * *

 **Chapter 12: The Frontline (Pt. 1)**

" _LISTEN UP, BOYS-"_

 _ **BANG!**_

" _-WE'RE ABOUT TO HEAD INTO-"_

 _ **BOOOM!**_

" _-A SERIOUS FUCKING SHITSTORM!"_

 _ **CRACK!**_

" _-THERE'LL BE NO TIME TO REST-"_

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T-T!**_

" _-UNTIL WE GET TO THE AO! UNDERSTOOD?"_

" _ **YES, SIR!"**_

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**_

A large explosion nearby rocked the heli carrier they were in, throwing a couple people to the floor, and even causing the 2nd Lieutenant to stumble around.

James was in panic, looking around nervously as he feared whether their aircraft would get shot down. He looked over at Monika, who was gazing at him ever so blissfully, a calming and reassuring sign to him.

Then again, she was impervious to bullets, explosions, and other weapons of war.

"If I die, Monika-"

"You won't, James. I'll protect you."

"Monika, I lo-"

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

The sound was deafening, and James had to cover his ears just to prevent himself from going temporarily deaf.

" _CHRIST, IT'S SO FUCKING LOUD!"_ Conrado shouted over the noise.

"THAT'S WAR FOR YOU, DUMBASS!" Tolya shouted back, garnering a souring face from Conrado.

"YOU THINK IT'S LOUD UP HERE, WAIT TILL YOU GET DOWN THERE!" Fritz added.

"ALRIGHT, I DON'T NEED ALL OF YOUR TWO CENTS-"

"WE'RE ABOUT TO LAND, GENTLEMEN, GET READY!"

James couldn't stop shaking as he looked around at everyone else, hearing the terrifying blasts and gunfire outside. Almost everyone else seemed to be in the same situation, but coping differently. Conrado was talking his head off to Fritz, who was sitting nearby, silent as he stared at the floor.

 _He's already seen war,_ James remembered. He heard about Fritz leading an IWA platoon at the frontlines of Europe and losing everyone but himself. He got transferred to the US after they found him shivering in-

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T-T-T!**_

 _CHRIST, I CAN'T EVEN HEAR MY OWN THOUGHTS,_ James thought to himself in panic.

"James, don't leave my side, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll stay by you the whole way. I promise."

"Okay."

James couldn't manage anything more than one word at this point. He was too busy being focused on what would happen when they-

 _WHOOMPF._

-Landed.

" _ALRIGHT, HERE'S OUR STOP, GENTLEMEN! LET'S GO!"_

As the boarding ramp lowered, the 2nd Lieutenant waved his hand forward rapidly, and everyone unbuckled their seatbelts, making their way down.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BOOOOM!  
**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T!  
**_

As James made his way off the ramp, he was immediately greeted with a whizzing bullet that hit the side of the ramp, grazing his leg.  
"HOLY SHIT!"

"KEEP MOVING!"

In a mass-induced fervor, everyone stumbled out of the helicarrier and onto the battlefield, with explosions and gunfire encapsulating the atmosphere.

James could no longer fully comprehend his environment. Chaos became sound, and he could focus only on the Lieutenant waving his hand for the troops to move to cover. Immediately, James sprinted for the nearest one, finding refuge by a wrecked car. Monika, Fritz and Conrado came up behind him, finding cover behind the vehicle.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **CRASH!**_

"WE MOVE UP SLOWLY, UNTIL WE PUSH TO TOWN SQUARE! WHEN WE GET THERE-"

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T-T!**_

 _ **BANG! BANG!**_

"YOU WILL HOLD UNTIL WE RECEIVE FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS!"

It was Sergeant Hendricks, his squad leader, who was speaking now, as the platoon had split up into squads now. However, he could barely comprehend this, hiis mind purely focused on evading the hail of bullets that were burning the air from down the street.

"ALRIGHT! START FIRING AT WILL! EVERYONE DOWN THAT FUCKIN' STREET IS A FUCKIN' SEBBIE BASTARD, SO DON'T HESITATE TO BLOW THEIR FUCKIN' HEADS OFF!"  
James dreaded having to raise his head up-

 _ **WHIZZ-CRUNCH!**_

"AAAAAHHH!"

James witnessed a fellow infantryman get shot in the thigh as he was running by, and he fell screaming, holding his leg as he cried in agony. It sounded like the bullet had broken his femur.

"MY FUCKING LEG! AAHHH! SOMEONE, PLEASE-"

 _ **CRACK!**_

A cloud of blood spat out of his head as another bullet came by and hit him square in the eye. James sat in shock as he watched the display.

 _ **BANG!**_

 _ **BANG!  
**_

 _ **BANG!  
**_

Anger boiled up in James' throat, and he peaked up, raising his rifle and firing at the other side.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

He felt someone pull him down as a bullet whizzed by. Monika sat over him, staring at him with horror.

"JAMES! PLEASE, DON'T DO THAT! I WILL PROTECT YOU! PLEASE!"

"GET OFF ME! THEY NEED TO PAY!"

"YOU TWO, FUCKING STOP! WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A-"

 _Clink, clink._

A grenade clattered nearby, and James almost didn't comprehend the gravity of the situation until Monika ran over, picking up the grenade and throwing it back.

 _ **WHIZZ!**_

A bullet grazed her skin, causing her to yelp in pain, and she dove back to cover.

"HOW THE FUCK ARE WE GONNA MOVE UP WITH THIS SHIT HAPPENING?!" Conrado yelled in panic.

"KEEP YOUR RIFLE OUT AND ONLY PEEK YOUR HEAD A BIT, LIKE THIS!" Fritz responded, pushing his rifle out from the side and looking through the sight before firing a couple times.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

He retracted quickly, and James was surprised to see no bullets had whizzed his way.

"THEY ARE FOCUSED MAINLY ON THE CENTER! FIGHT FROM THE SIDES, AND WATCH THE SIDES OF THEIR END!"

"ALRIGHT!"

Everyone began following his lead, peeking out just barely from the sides and firing. James looked over to his left, a grave mistake. Bodies dotted the field of battle, limbs dotting the landscape. Only moments before, it was clear of such horrors.

"Oh my god...oh my god…"

"MOVE UP! THEY'RE RETRACTING! MOVE THE FUCK UP!"

Weeks of intense training kicked in, and James followed the Sergeant's command, moving up quickly, taking cover by any available cover.

Tree.

Newspaper stand.

Tree.

Car.

The cover switched quickly, with James and Monika continually moving up and firing whilst the other gained ground.

Finally, they had gotten to the cusp of what James saw to be a large, circular center of the town, where the true battle was taking place. Gunfire and explosions increased tenfold, bullets whizzed by from each side, bodies littered the field like a sickening wave of green, brown and red flowers, the nearby buildings sagged as thousands and thousands of pounds of munitions were pounded into them.

 _ **BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **BOOM! BOOOM!**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T!**_

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG!**_

Helicopters flew over the air, firing at other parts of the city, flying by the highrises, tanks from both sides shot at each other, reciprocating the sounds of death and pure destruction.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BOOM!**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T!**_

 _ **WHIZZ-CRUNCH!**_

The sounds of screaming, yelling, and crying occupied the atmosphere, like it made up the very molecules.

This was all within the first three seconds.

"FIND COVER NOW! FUCKING NOW!" The Sergeant yelled, ducking his head as he found refuge by a pillar of a shop. "MOVE AROUND THE SIDES! DO _NOT GO NEAR THE MIDDLE!"_

James was still in shock, but he could see why. That was where the biggest concentration of bodies was, and the vast majority of infantry units from either side that dared to enter that space were shot or blown to bits.

"MOVE UP! MOVE UP!"

James did as commanded, moving from pillar to pillar, keeping by some form of cover so as to preserve his life.

And yet, he was no longer driven solely by fear. Adrenaline, anger, the instinctive urge to stay alive, the built-in robotic commands that had been instilled in him during boot camp...all of this contributed to his quick movements, his evasive maneuvers.

"THERE ARE CIVILIANS IN THIS AREA, SO WATCH YOUR FIRE!"

 _ **BANG BANG!**_

 _ **BANG-BANG-BANG!**_

 _ **BOOM! BOOOM!**_

James whipped out his rifle, but as the Sergeant said, there were civilians running about in fear towards the UFAA. He remembered the briefing about how the SEB had made leeway into further New York territory, and civilians didn't have enough time to safely clear out.

"KEEP ALONG THE SIDES, LIKE I SAID! THESE FUCKERS WILL NOT HESITATE TO SHOOT YOU!"

James noticed his entire squad was here, doing as the Sergeant commanded.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, oh my god, oh my god…"

James looked over to see Oswald clenching his rifle in fear, his knuckles turning white, his face dripping with sweat, and further back Madeline crying profusely.

" _Oh my god, I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!"_

"You're not gonna die, Madeline! Just move up, stay with me!" James barked. The command seemed to reassure Madeline, who moved up with James as instructed.

"Stay with me, and just do as the Sergeant says, okay?!"

"Okay!"

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BOOOM!**_

 _ **CRACK!**_

 _ **WHIZZ!**_

The sounds of war seemed to ramp up, and a rogue rocket hit the shop around a dozen meters behind James and Madelin, sending debris flying everywhere.

"LET'S MOVE!"

The squad continued on, enduring the hellfire that continued on around them, occasionally firing a few shots when they were sure there were no civilians nearby to hit.

"ALRIGHT, HOLD! WE'RE WAITING FOR LINS' TANK COMPANY TO SHOW UP-"

 _Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee…_

The Sergeant's face drained of color as the whistling sound was heard.

"FUCKING ARTIES! GET AWAY NOW!"

Immediately, everyone ran in different directions as the whistling increased in sound.

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**_

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!**_

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!**_

 _ **BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!**_

The barrage of artillery pounded the building and the surrounding area that James' squad was within. Dirt and debris was sent flying everywhere, and James was tossed like a ragdoll by the sheer force of a nearby artillery shell. He felt himself impact into the ground, oxygen punched out of his lungs.

In a daze, James felt himself get up, looking around in sheer confusion, holding his rifle in one hand. He looked over to see his squad mates lying on the ground, all of them seemingly alive. Oswald and Madelin got up, trying to find cover as they lurched around in stupor.

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T!**_

Within seconds, a line of machine-gun fire mowed them down, ripping through their bodies, and they both collapsed to the ground.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BOOOOOM!**_

 _"AAAAAHHHH!"_

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

"FUCK, MAN DOWN!"

James stumbled around in shock and terror as the screams of citizens, bullets, explosions, and sheer war screeched from all around him. He could feel bullets whizzing by his face,

grenades being tossed,

launchers being fired,

people dying left and right.

 _ **BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BRT-T-T-T-T-T!**_

 _"AAAAHHHHHH, FUCK! I'M HIT!"_

He was utterly disoriented by the chaos that seemed to reign across the city of New York. Looking up was an even worse sight, as beyond the plumes of smoke from explosions and gunfire, he could see buildings were being blown up and shot at. One particular two-story building to his right came crumbling down after billowing smoke for more than 5 minutes.

 _ **BANG-BANG! BANG-BANG-BANG!**_

 _ **BOOOM!**_

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

Waves of civilians were running from the gunfire towards safety, many of them getting shot by both sides as they entered the crossfire. James witnessed a group of civilians cowering behind cafe tables, and he began making his way over to assist them out of-

 _ **WHIZZ-BOOM!**_

James felt himself thrown back as a rocket flew towards the cafe, blowing up the whole storefront. As he hit the ground, James saw pieces of flesh and body parts fly overhead.

As if controlled by a robot, James got up, his eyes stuck in a constant state of shell-shock, unable to comprehend the hellish situation he was thrown into. He noticed one particular little girl crying as she held a severed arm in her hand.

 _"MOMMY! MOMMY, I'M SCARED! MOMMY, WHERE ARE YOU?!"_

No sooner did she get the last word out before a SEB soldier ran up and smacked her in the head with the butt of the gun, who fell over and began crying profusely, blood pouring from her head and mouth, some of her teeth being seen missing from the inside of her mouth. The SEB soldier then brought up his rifle, pointing it at the girl's head.

 _ **BANG!**_

James screamed in horror as he witnessed the SEB soldier blow the brains out of the little girl's head, splattering the concrete with them. In rage and sorrow, James raised his rifle, aiming it at the soldier and pulling the trigger.

 _ **BANG-BANG-BANG!**_

The SEB soldier whipped backwards as the bullets impacted into his chest, and even after he fell to the floor, James kept pulling the trigger, shooting the body without remorse.

" _ **DIE, YOU FUCKING SCUM! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"**_

 _ **BANG-BANG-BANG!**_

 _Click, click, click._

James lowered his empty rifle, staring at the little girl's corpse in horror.

 _ **BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BOOOOOM! BANG! BANG!**_

 _ **BRRRRRT-T-T-T-T-T!**_

"GET A FUCKING MEDIC! DID YOU HEAR ME?! GET A-"

 _ **WHIZZ-SHICK!**_

James turned around to the sound of someone yelling for medical support. The man who had been screaming for it, who had been putting pressure on the gunshot wound of another soldier, took a bullet straight through the head, followed by a grenade.

 _ **BOOOM!**_

James stood in horror as he saw the body turn into red mist, body parts being flung in all directions, blood spattering across James' face and uniform.

"Jesus Christ...Jesus Christ, help me..."

He couldn't comprehend anything. His eyes wandered around the field of death and gore that embodied the field, idly watching the massacre. He noticed one of the SEB tanks lower its cannon, pointing at him.

 _Oh, I'm gonna die._

At sudden, he felt someone tackle him, followed by the sound of a tank round whizzing by, before hitting the building behind them, sending the structure tumbling down.

James looked up to see Monika, tears streaming down her face as she gazed at him.

 _ **WHIZZ-BOOOOOM!**_

The tank that was pointing its cannon at James suddenly exploded, sending shrapnel flying, killing nearby SEB soldiers and emitting plumes of smoke. James craned his head back to see a platoon of UFAA tanks move in, with someone looking over the top of one of them.

" _BLAST THEM TO FUCKING BITS!"_ He shouted.

"JAMES! PLEASE, FOLLOW ME!" Monika shouted at him, knocking him out of his trance.

"Okay."

James felt himself lifted up and brought to cover, where a couple members of the squad were waiting.

"HOLD FIRE! THE SERGEANT MAJOR'S BATTALION IS HERE!" Sergeant Hendricks shouted.

From there, the battle started to slowly but surely recede as the tank troop ripped through the SEB enemy, blasting any form of them. Civilians ran behind the tanks, crying in relief as they found refuge with the friendly forces.

After a couple more minutes, the battle finally died down, with the SEB forces having fully retreated from the town square. Gunfire and explosions echoed in the distance now, but only the silence of the dead and the wailing of the living occupied this space now.

James stood from the side, with Monika hugging him in relief as she sobbed. He looked on at the rotting field of corpses, the blood that soaked these grounds, the dirt and debris that littered the field haphazardly.

A sight of decay.

"Fucking hell...finally, a break." Conrado muttered, before shortly breaking down into tears in relief. Fritz sat against a wall, his eyes glued to the ground as he pondered. Tolya looked around constantly, wary of his surroundings, most likely paranoid. Danny was curled up in a ball on a bench, muttering to himself.

"We're missing Oswald and Madeline. Anyone know where they are?" Sergeant Hendricks addressed the group.

"They're dead." James uttered in an almost monotone manner. He hadn't even processed their deaths, just noting it as another event in the battlefield.

"W-what…?"

James looked over at Madison, wide-eyed, having heard his statement.

"M-Madeline...No...No...Madeline's not…"

She fell to her knees, dropping her rifle.

"She's not dead...She's not…"

Tears streamed down her eyes as she stared at the ground in shock.

"She's not...No…"

And then she wailed, so loudly and terribly that James would have thought she was mourning the death of her family.

"AAAAAAUUUUHHHH!"

Meanwhile, everyone else took the deaths of their compatriots, the squad members they had endured adversity alongside for twelve weeks, terribly.

"These fucking Sebbies...they have no morals." Tolya commented miserably. "They fired on Danny, even after seeing the clear medical patch on his helmet and shoulder. They've abandoned the Geneva Convention, along with their humanity..."

"They shot civilians, right in front of me." Conrado seethes. "This...little boy was hiding behind a trash can, crying, and one of those fucking _scum_ just pass by and shoot him, no hesitation. What the fuck is wrong with these _people?"_

"Don't focus on that." Sergeant Hendricks interjected. "They're pieces of shit. We're gonna wipe them out of this city and off the face of this Earth. You can be at peace with your mind that we're the good guys of this war."

James at on a bench, with Monika hugging him as she sobbed, looking out at the battlefield.

"Why...why did you want to sign up for this, James...why…" Monika sobbed. "We could have been living in peace, in New York, next to those waterfalls, living together...why are we here...instead of there…"

"Because…" He muttered. "...how can I live in peace, knowing my brothers and sisters are dying, to save the world?"


End file.
